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ARBITRATION
BETWEEN
CAPITAL AND LABOR,
A HISTORY AND AN ARGUMENT;
DANIEL J. RYAN.
"If there be those who would array Labor against Capital, I am not of
them, nor with them. If there be those who regard the interests of Labor
and of Capital as naturally and properly antagonistic, I do not agree with
them." — Horace Greeley.
COLUMBUS, O. :
1885.
Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1885, by
Daniel J. Ryan,
In the Office of Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
Preas of Nitschke Bros,,
Columbus. O.
^3
SH3I
TO
JOSEPH D. WEEKS,
OF PITTSBURGH.
PREFACE.
THIS volume was written during the spare
hours of a legislative session. It is not
presented to the public as a work of
literary excellence or of brilliant originality.
The principles advocated herein are neither new
nor untried.
It is my desire to offer a plain statement, in a
historical and argumentative way, of the value
and necessity of the peace principle of arbitra-
tion in settling disputes between capital and
labor.
Events are daily transpiring which are crowd-
ing to the front the importance of amicably
adjusting the controversies of workingmen and
their employers. Their dissensions are operating
injustice and damage to both sides and to society
at large. There is danger in their occurrence
vi. preface:.
and continuance, and the conservative friends
of social order see in these conflicts a subject
worth}' of the gravest consideration. What shall
be done, is a great and pressing problem. It is a
matter wliich affects more living persons than
an\' othef question with which our race has to
deal. It is one of the broadest humanity. It is
not simph' a question that deals with dollars,
wages, strikes, and riots; it deals with human
wants, sufferings, affections, and grief. Centuries
of strife have failed to solve it. A few recent
years of peaceful methods, such as described in
these pages, have accomplished more than all the
past.
In the preparation of this volume, I have
experienced no little difficulty from the paucit}^
of material in American literature, for informa-
tion upon the subject which it treats. With the
exception of the valuable Report on Arbitration
and Conciliation in Enc/land, by Mr. Joseph D.
Weeks, tliere has been nothing complete published
in this country. Tlie principle and practice of
arbitration in trade disputes has received much
attention from tlie social ('('()iiomists, statesmen,
Wdikingmen, and capitalists of England. Hence,
PREFACE. Vll.
the reader will find that almost all of the evi-
dence as to its operations and success come from
English sources.
I am under deep obligations to Mr. Weeks on
account of a free recourse to his report, and for
personal views obtained from him, and I am also
indebted to Ex-Senator Wallace, of Clearfield,
Pa., for favors connected herewith.
I have found in my investigations the follow-
ing works of vast benefit in properly studying
the question of voluntary arbitration, and I
recommend them to those who desire to examine
this subject: The State in Relation to Labor, by
W. Stanley Jevons; The Question of Labor and
Cajyital, by John B. Jervis; Oyi Work and Wages,
by Sir Thomas Brassy; On Labor, by W. T.
Thornton; Trades Unions, by William Trant; The
History and Development of Guilds, and the Origin
of Trades Unions, by L. Brentano; Tlieory of
Political Economy, by W. Stanley Jevons; Eco-
nomic Position of the British Laborer, by Henr}^
Fawcett; The Social Law of Labor, by William B.
Weeden ; Reports of the Condition of the Industrial
Classes in Foreign Countries, London, bSTO; Con-
flicts of Labor and Capital, by George Howell;
Vlll. PREFACE.
Reports of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, for the
States of Oliio, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts,
and Report of Committee on Trades Societies, in the
Proceedings of the National Association for the
Promotion of Social Science, London, 1860.
With these words, this work is submitted to
the consideration of an appreciative public.
DANIEL J. RYAN.
Port'' mouth, 0., April, 1885.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTERS —
I. The Failure and Fallacy of Strikes 1
II. Voluntary Arbitration, Its Methods and Operations. 18
III. Arbitration in France and Belgium; The " Conseils
des Prud'hommes ;" The Arbitration Act of Austria, 38
IV. Anthony John Mundella, the Founder of English
Arbitration 49
V. Rise and Development of English Industrial Arbitra-
tion 56
VI. Voluntary Arbitration in the United States 77
VII. Trades Unions and Arbitration 91
APPENDIX —
I. Arbitration in the English Trades 101
II. Specimen of an American Arbitration Board 105
III. A Bundle of Letters on the Subject 112
IV. The Ohio Arbitration Act 120
CHAPTER I.
THE FAILURE AND FALLACY OF STRIKES.
THE protracted and bitter struggles between
workmen and employers known as strikes,
form a subject worthy of special consider-
ation in treating upon the matter of arbitration.
Their failure and inefficiency in producing profit-
able results present an impressive lesson to labor,
as well as a powerful argument for an appeal to
the methods of peace and law, in settling in-
dustrial difficulties. A writer, whose official and
personal opportunities have given him the right
to speak with authority on this subject, has this
to say concerning it:
"How do strikes originate? The history of
one in its general features is the history of all.
A number of men working for a firm or company,
through their daily conversation become imbued
with the belief that they should have an advance
of wages; a meeting is called for some evening,
2 ARBITRATION.
the matter is discussed, and finally a committee
is instructed to respectfully demand of the em-
ployers an advance of wages. The demand is
refused or ignored, and no attempt at communi-
cation with the men is made by the employer.
The men become morose and sullen, another
meeting is held, and a strike is resolved upon.
The men strike, the works are closed for a month
or more, one of the parties weakens, a request for
a conference ensues, the difficulty is adjusted, and
the meii return to work. It matters not which
side has been defeated; ill feeling and a desire for
another test of endurance has obtained a foothold,
and the war continues until either the employes
are all dead or scattered, or the employers with-
draw from the business. If a demand comes
from the employers for a reduction of wages, the
method of proceeding is practically the same,
with the same results."*
A strike never proved the right or wrong
of any labor question. In isolated instances it
may have resulted in some particular good, but
these cases are rare exceptions in the history
of strikes. In no case has a strike left the
workingman in the same prosperous condition in
wliicli it found him. It leaves him out of money
•Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics of Ohio.
— //. J. Walla, 1878.
ARBITRATION. 6
and out of work. It always turns Labor into a
mendicant, and frequently into a criminal; it
arouses in Capital feelings of cruel resentment,
and transforms it into a heartless oppressor.
The motives, as well as the origin of these strikes,
are often simple and useless. One of the most
extensive industrial territories in the United
States is the Hocking Valley Coal region of
Ohio. In no other collection of wageworkers in
this country have strikes been more frequent or
more damaging. Yet one who has examined by
personal association, together with experience
coming only from a practical miner, the condi-
tions of employment there, says that " the
majority of these labor troubles originate in
almost nothing."* There must be, however, ex-
ceptions to this statement. The terrible struggle
which has been going on in that region for the
past year certainly cannot be said to have origi-
nated '' in almost nothing." The protest of the
miners against a reduction was based on much that
was just and fair. Nevertheless, the differences
on this point between the operators and miners
could have been settled in its first stages by honest
and frank arbitration. The failure of calm, can-
did discussion between operator and emplo3^e
frequently leads to dissensions and ill-feelings,
*Aimual Report of Inspector of Mines of Ohio.— Andrew Roy, IfiSl.
4 ARBITRATION.
which usually terminate in a strike. Further, on
this same matter, he says, " both parties acknowl-
edge that the price of mining should be reduced
in the spring and raised in the fall. Yet the
miners scarcely ever accede to a reduction with-
out a strike, and the operators never allow an
advance unless compelled to do so by a threatened
strike." The bitter experiences of employers
and employes seem to lessen in but a small degree
this annual recurrence to the methods of bar-
barism to settle their differences. The conflict
goes on, bringing disaster and ruin to the opera-
tors, and idleness and starvation to the miners.
Another innocent victim of these struggles is
the workingman of the cities. The price of coal
during strikes becomes high, or at least they are
sometimes the pretext for high prices, and the
article of home use as necessary as the bread on
the table is purchasable only by paying the price
of a luxury. It is no blow to the wealthy; their
fires always burn, even though their coal comes
from distant districts. So while the miner in his
struggle entails suffering and want upon his own
family, his influence for increasing suffering
extends to the crowded tenements of the city and
to the home of the mechanic far distant. The
unjust demands of the operator have the same
result.
ARBITRATION. O
The moral influence of strikes is depressive.
Idleness is most conducive to evil; and it is the
worst enemy of industrial progress. A victim of
involuntary idleness, as the workingman usually
is in a strike, is a pitiable spectacle. Willing and
able to labor, but controlled perhaps by some
external agency which he must obey. No good
can come to the laboring classes from such a
source; it brings bitterness and defeat even when
their controversy is successful.
Every strike is a pecuniary disaster to capital
and labor. The misled wagemen are losers even
when the imaginary victory is theirs. The annals
of strikes are a series of foolish losing struggles
for labor. A strike for a wage advance of ten
per cent., if kept up for one month, and if the
parties are successful, is no pecuniary advance-
ment. It will require that striking labor ten
months of uninterrupted work to earn back the
money lost by the strike. Who is ahead in the
contest? If the strike lasted thirty days, and
the advance gained was only five per cent., the
laborer would have to work one year and eight
months to earn back what he lost during the
strike! Is there any money to labor in striking?
A review of the history of the protests of
labor against the aggressions of capital will be
interesting in demonstrating the failure of strikes.
G ARBITRATION.
The path of Englisli industry is strewn with
tombstones marking ruinous and ineffective
struggles of labor. The earliest wide spread and
long continued strike of Elnglish workmen was
that of the Lancashire cotton spinners, which
occurred in ISIO. In that year the spinners in
the mills of Manchester, Stockport, Macclesfield,
Staleysbridge, Ashton, Hyde, and as far north as
Preston, left their work simultaneously. Thirty
thousand persons were thrown out of employ-
ment. The strike, which was for an advance in
wages, continued four months. It was four
months of misery, lawlessness, and destitution to
the participants. The hard-earned savings of
years were consumed in endeavoring to win the
contest. The advance was not obtained — the
desired })oint was an increase of fifty per cent.;
failure was the result. 'The loss was enormous,
but out of the pocket of the laborer. The spin-
ners of Manchester struck in 1829; they lost a
million and a quarter of dollars before it was
ended. (Jain? Nothing. In 1830 the spinners at
Ashton and Staleysbridge lost the same amount
in wages by a strike. In 1833 the builders of
Manchester inaugurated a famous strike. They
had nothing to show for their struggle but a loss
of $300,(J()() in wages. The spinners of Preston
lost |3()(),()(M) in 1880. In 1854 seventeen thou-
ARBITRATION. 7
sand spinners in the same place struck for thirty-
six weeks, and they lost $2,100,000 in wages.
The iron workers of England lost in 1854 $215,
000 in the same way. The dear price of strikes
is not always paid by labor; capital suffers as
well. The Belfast linen operators in 1875 lost
$1,000,000 by one season's strike. This treats of
but a few instances. In the pottery strikes of
Staffordshire of 1834 and 1836, the loss to both
workmen and manufacturers was $943,050 in the
latter year, and $250,000 to the workmen alone
in the former.
The bread winners of America never made a
dollar by striking. When every such transaction
is put upon the trial sheet of investigation, and
subjected to cool calculation, the figures will be
on the debit side every time. The great railroad
strike of 1877 was founded on the just demands
of employes who, as a matter of humanity, were
entitled to increased wages. It was simply a
labor rebellion against the aggregated and op-
pressive railroad capital of the country. But
what did it amount to? Nothing. Lives lost,
property burned, public peace disturbed, and
every day was a day lost in bread and butter to
the strikers. The loss to labor was millions, to
capital, tens of millions. It settled no dispute;
save to no man work.
^ ARBITRATION.
In 188(1 the Bureau of Labor Statistics of
Massachusetts made a thorough report of the
result of 159 strikes in this country. The report
classifies the strikes and their causes as follows:
to secure better wages, 118; to secure shorter
day.'=', 24; to enforce union rules, 9; resisting
employers' rules, 5; against introduction of
machinery, 3. The report shows the result to
have been as follows: unsuccessful, 109; success-
ful, 18; compromised, 1(3; partly successful, 6;
result unknown, 9; contest then pending, 1. In
the various Fall River strikes in that State, the
enormous sum of $1,400,000 has been lost in
wages by the voluntary idleness of the operatives.
And it is stated that "in more than sixty-eight
\)CY cent, of them, loss in wages, varying with the
extent and duration of the strike, has been sub-
mitted to without any material benefit accruing
to offset it.'"*
The strike of the Amalgamated Association
of Iron and Steel Workers of Cincinnati and
vicinity in 1881 was a five months' struggle
which cost the strikers $500,000 in wages and
injured the trade of Cincinnati to the extent
of a million and a half of dollars. In the end
l»otli i)arties got together, talked it all over, made
concessions to each other, and an agreement was
• Keport of the Bureau of I.iibor Statistics.— ISSO, pages r,5-C8.
ARBITRATION. 9
reached. This was practically arbitration. Why
not do that at first?
The strike of the Brotherhood of Telegraphers
throughout the United States and Canada com-
menced July 19, 1883. It lasted just thirty days.
The demands of the strikers were for shorter
hours of labor and an increase of pay. They
claimed that eight hours for day work and seven
hours for night work should be the limit; and
demanded an increase of fifteen per cent, on
salaries. They accomplished absolutely nothing,
and on the 18th of August the Brotherhood pro-
nounced the strike a failure, and advised all
operators who could secure situations to go to
work.
They paid an immense sum in lost wages for
their contest, *which Avas just and deserved suc-
cess. William Orton, President of the Western
Union Telegraph Company, testified before a
Congressional committee that telegraph operators
could not perform daily more than six hours
of continuous labor without endangering their
health. Their wages had been reduced twenty-
five per cent, in three years. They had grounds
for complaint, but striking brought no relief.
It is stated by Andrew Roy, formerly Ohio's
Mine Inspector, that the strikes among the Hock-
ing Valley coal miners have been almost annual
10 ARBITRATION.
for the past twelve years. And he says that ''it
would be a very moderate calculation to place the
losses to the miners alone, the result of striking,
as equal to three hundred thousand dollars a
year." Thus in twelve years the loss to the
miners has been three million six hundred thou-
sand dollars! Labor able to be performed, but
absolutely annihilated. The mine operators' loss
is estimated very low at five millions of dollars.
Add to these pecuniary losses, the lawlessness and
bloodshed that has resulted from these heated
conflicts, and what answer can prove striking a
benefit to labor?
Pages and pages of narratives of these in-
jurious and unsuccessful contests between work-
men and capitalists could be recited. But enough
has been said to show that whatever good is
accomplished by these struggles is paid for at a
cost and sacrifice which never brings adequate
retur'is.
In this general censure of the uselessness of
strikes, 1 am not forgetful of the fact that oft-
times they have been the ultimate and only
remedies of lal)or in its effort to obtain justice,
lint I hold it to be true, that there is a better and
cheaper method of protecting the workingman,
an<l givin.^ liini justice in his disputes with
caj)ital. Mapj)ily infiuences are at work which
ARBITRATION. 11
are daily directing, at the same time protecting,
labor in its demands. The trade unions of to-
day, contrary to the opinions of many, are the
most potent factor in preventing rash and useless
strikes in the domain of capital and labor. They
have their missions, and it has uniformly been
more for good than for evil. And when the}^ do
inaugurate a strike, this can be said for them —
that it is onl}^ done after the maturest delibera-
tion, and after the cost, as far as the governing
power can see, is fully estimated. William Trant,
in his valuable little treatise recently written on
Trade Unions, their Origin and Objects, Influence
and Efficacy, presents a very effective defense
against the charges made against them; and from
this source I quote at length, as showing their
relations to strikes. While he is speaking of the
English societies, it may be observed that the
same is applicable, but in a more appropriate
degree, to the societies of American workmen.
" In order, however, that trade unions may
lay claim to fitness for carrying out their objects,
they must show something more than that they
are able to conduct a strike to a successful issue,
to palliate the evils of an unsuccessful strike, and
to succeed in occasionally forming a board of
arbitration. They must show that in their very
nature they have the desire and power to prevent
12 ARBITRATION.
strikes. It is gratifying to be able to state that in
this respect, also, the trade unions are eminently
successful. Indeed, economy, if nothing else,
would dictate such a policy. The executories
of trade unions have been taught by experience,
that even when an object is worth striving for, a
strike is often the worst, and always the most
expensive, wa}' of obtaining it. Strikes, as a
rule, are a dernier resort, and are more* frequently
discountenanced by the general secretary than
approved of by him. Indeed, it is the boast
of most trade union secretaries that they have
prevented more strikes than they have originated.
This is all the more creditable, because some
branch or other is always urging a strike. 'At
least twenty times in as many months,' wrote
Mr. Allan, 'we have recommended that a strike
should not take place.' 'About one-third,' an-
swered Mr. Applegarth, when questioned on the
subject by the Royal Commissioners, 'of the
applications made to us to strike, during the last
few years, have been refused;' and Mr. Mac-
Donald, Secretary of . the House Painters' Alli-
ance, said, ' Our parent society never originated a
strike, but has stopped many.' The desire of the
trade unionists to prevent strikes is also shown
by the following resolution, which was unani-
mously agreed upon at the Trade Unions' Con-
ARBITRATION. 13
gress in 1874, viz.: 'That in the opinion of this
Congress, that in all trades where disputes occur,
and where it is possible to prevent strikes by
starting co-operative establishments, all trades
societies and trades councils be recommended to
render such assistance as lies in their power, and
thus, as far as possible, prevent strikes and lock-
outs in the future.' This, at any rate, shows that
the unions are as willing to devote their funds to
the prevention of strikes as to their origination;
and although some of the speakers to that reso-
lution showed a preference for co-operative prin-
ciples inconsistent with a thorough belief in those
of trade unionism, yet the congress wisely limited
its resolution to those circumstances when the
co-operative form of trading is certain to prevent
a strike, and not to the promulgation of co-
operative principles generally."
And he verified his argument by the accounts
of the various English trade unions, that they
spend, comparativel}', a very small per cent, of
their funds in sustaining strikes. In 1882, the
Amalgamated Engineers, with an income of
£124,000 and a cash balance of £168,000, ex-
pended in strikes, including the support they
gave to other trades, £890 only, less than one per
cent. The Iron Founders spent out of an income
of £42,000, £214; the Amalgamated Carpenters
14 ARBITRATION.
wlio liad been engaged in strikes, expended
£2,000 out of £50,000, only four per cent.; the
Tailors spent £505 out of a fund of £18,000; the
Stone Masons, with a trade union of eleven
thousand members, spent nothing in strikes.
During six years, it is estimated that seven
English trade unions spent in the settlement of
disputes, £162,000 out of a capital of almost
£2,000,000. In 1S82, these specific societies, with
an aggregate income of £330,000 and a cash
balance of £360,000, expended altogether in
matters of dispute about £5,000. These figures
from Frederic Harrison's address before the Trade
Union Congress at Nottingham, in October, 1883,
certainly are creditable to the cause of trade
unionism. "When it is remembered that ninety-
nine per cent, of these societies' expenditures
were for benevolent and provident purposes, and
one per cent, only for strikes, it is absurd to say
that the chief object of a trade union is to foster
trade disputes."
As far as industrial organizations can prevent
these conflicts, they have lent all their powers
and machinery to that end. Yet in spite of their
unfjuestioned attempts, there has been, and will
contiinic to l)e, these terrible and costly struggles
wliicli have crippled ]a])or and its cause, and at
the same time almcjst destroyed the mechanism
ARBITKATION. 15
of trade. The condition of things, therefore,
compels labor and capital in their own interests,
and society for its peace, to go farther and inquire
whether there is " a balm in Gilead " for these
troubles. Strife and stubbornness and bulldozing
have failed. The inhuman system of lock-outs
— capital's starving-out process — does not admit
of an argument in defense. The situation is
pointedly put by George HoWell, who was at one
time Secretary of the English Trade Union
Congress. Said he, '* the whole question lies in a
nutshell. Is brute force better than reason? If
it be, then a costermonger may be a greater
personage than a philosopher, and Tom Sayers
might have been considered superior to John
Stuart Mill." It is obvious, and it is needless to
argue the question, that public interests, as well
as the individual interests of employer and em-
ploye, would be best subserved if the same result
in industrial disputes could be attained without
the barbarisms of strikes and lock-outs. If
differences could be corrected amicably without
the cessation of labor and the depreciation of
capital, it would certainly be money in the- pocket
of the worker as well as the capitalist. Take, for
instance, the strike of the colliers of South Wales
in 1875. It included 120,000 workmen, and
lasted seventeen weeks. The loss in wages has
16 ARBITRATION.
been variously calculated from three to five
millions of dollars; and, after all that loss, it was
finally settled by the miners and operators com-
ing together, and by reasonable methods arbitra-
ting their differences in a manner that provided
a basis which prevented many a subsequent
contest.
When men of labor and capital meet together
as men of business should meet, and discuss their
difFeronces, in a friendly spirit, the chances are
altogether in favor of an amicable settlement,
profitable in the end, to all concerned and parti-
cipating. Their success runs in parallel lines; if
they diverge or cross, the symmetry which the
laws of trade and nature design is marred. As
the bow unto the arrow is, useless one without
the other, so is labor and capital. Labor is
capital; capital is labor; and in this stage of
society we cannot have one without both.
There is a remedy for the conflict. It is the
remedy that civilized nations have substituted for
war; the remedy that has killed the doctrine that
" might is right." It is the submission to the
influence of reason. The voluntary arbitration
of labor's troubles and capital's claims, trusting
to an enlightened public opinion to sustain
awards, is the only rational method consistent
with the welfare of society. This conclusion is
ARPilTRATION. 17
justified on the following summarized grounds:
1. Strikes have failed to accomplish what the
workingman demands, although they have given
him partial relief.
2. Their enormous cost in wages thrown
away has proven that no good that comes from
them is worth the price paid.
3. Their demoralizing effect, generally culmi-
nating in lawlessness and at times in hloodshed,
antagonizes public opinion to the just claims
of labor.
4. Their arbitrary management, which creates
a general idleness in a trade when the irritation
is local, is clearly unjust.
5. They lead to an unjust distribution of
wages by making the uniform rates of wages
established apply to the indolent and unskilful as
well as to the industrious and efficient workman.
Just arbitration has none of these evils. Is it
not better to make equity a living principle in all
disputes of the wage workers, and seek to bring
the force of peaceful justice into play, instead
of the more violent and damaging contests, which,
if won. are but defeats? How shall tliat be done?
How has it been done':^ We shall see.
CHAPTER II
VOLUNTARY ARBITRATION — ITS METHODS
AND OPERATIONS.
AUBITRATION is the adjudication by private
persons appointed to decide a matter or
matters in controversy, on a reference
made to them for that purpose, either by agree-
ment of the disputants, or by the order or
suggestion of a court of law. When the subject
to be decided is one of work or wages, or both,
arising between employer and employe, it is
industrial arbitration. The proceeding generally
is called a submission to arbitration; the persons
appointed to decide are termed a Board of Arbi-
trators or Referees, and their opinion or adjudi-
cation of the subject-matter before them is called
an award. Boards consist usually of an even
number of members, and when they fail to agree
they call upon a third person who is known as
the umpire. His decision expresses the award.
One of the ancillaries to arbitration is the effort
ARBITRATION. 19
to promote harmony and an agreement between
the disputants before their contest is subjected to
the formal inquiry and decision of arbitration;
this is known as conciliation. With these prefa-
tory and explanatory words, an examination will
be made into the methods and worth of industrial
arbitration.
I do not claim that courts of arbitration, even
when based upon the voluntary action of labor
and capital, are a complete panacea for all the ills
of trade and industry. As long as men have
passions there will be " wars and rumors of war,"
but I do claim that they will, in a wonderful
degree, dispense Avith those disastrous agencies
now used in the settlement of trade disputes.
There is a distinction to be made in the
beginning between statutory arbitration and vol-
untary arbitration. The former applies to arbi-
tration, the awards of which have the force
of judgments of courts; in fact, such a board of
arbitration is a court for the time being, having
full power to subpoena witnesses and enforce
its judgments as a court of record. Voluntary
arbitration is an entirely different system. As
tlie term indicates, there is no authority of law
unless it be in the method of erecting the boards.
Its awards have not the force of judgments, and
it rests upon the honor of the disputants, rather
20 ARBITRATION.
than upon the writ of the sheriif, to carry them
into effect. All the experience and history on
this question is uniformly to the effect, that the
only successful arbitration between labor and
capital in the past has been purely voluntary.
For years there have been upon the statute books
of many of the States laws providing for arbi-
tration of disputes, but they have never been
applied in labor troubles. Boards with a justice
of peace air about them, and clothed with powers
of compulsion, fines, and commitment, have
never been considered by contesting employer
and employe as a safe or judicious forum to
submit their case. In England since the fifth
year of the reign of George IV. (1824) there has
been in force a statute providing for arbitration
in the industrial disputes. Under it tribunals
with compulsory powers and processes were
created, but it still remains a dead letter, and has
been especially objectionable both to employers
and employed.
The opinion of those who have been close
observers of this matter are of interest as bearing
on this subject. In this country no man has
given the question of arbitration a broader and
deeper investigation than Mr. Joseph D. Weeks,
of Pittsburg. In 1878 he was appointed a special
Commissioner of the State of Pennsylvania to
ARBITRATION. 21
proceed to England and examine in person the
methods and operations of the system of vokm-
tary arbitration, now a settled question in that
country. His comprehensive and able report to
Governor Hartranft in December, 1878, contains
the result of his full examination. He says:
"The voluntary feature of these boards is one to
which I desire to call particular attention. Both
Mr. Mundella and Mr, Kettle, to whom the cause
of arbitration and conciliation in England owes
much that it is, and who represent somewhat
diverse views on the subject, agree that these
boards should be voluntary and not compulsory.
Though there are acts of Parliament, which pro-
vide compulsory legal powers by which either
side can compel the other to arbitrate on any
dispute, these powers have never, in a single
instance, so far as I could learn, been used; but
the large number of differences that have been
settled by arbitration in Great Britain in the last
eighteen years have all been voluntary in their
submission and in the enforcement of the award."
Prof. W. Stanley Jevons, the eminent English
economist, speaking of arbitration, says: "All
available evidence tends to show that successful
boards of arbitration must be purely voluntary
bodies. * * * jj^ ^w probability success
will be best obtained in the settlement of trade
22 ARBITRATION.
disputes by keeping lawyers and laws as much at
a distance as possible. There must be sponta-
neous, or, at least, voluntary approximation of
the parties concerned. It is a question, not
of litigation, but of shaking hands in a friendly
manner, and sitting down to a table to talk the
matter over. The great evil of the present day
is the entire dissension of the laborer and the
capitalist; if we once get the hostile bodies to
meet by delegates around the same table, in a
purely voluntary and equal footing, the first great
evil of dissension is in a fair way of being over-
come."* And Judge Rupert Kettle, a strong
advocate of arbitration, contends " that, according
to the spirit of our laws and the freedom of our
people, any procedure, to be popular, must l)c
accepted voluntarily by both contending parties."
Arbitration which is purely voluntary is best
advanced when the method of creating the boards
is prescribed by some rule or precedent. Hence,
legislation providing for an uniform manner in
the erection and operation of boards of arbitra-
tion is always advantageous. To this extent, and
this only, can laws figure with good results.
When the proceeding to create boards is pre-
scril)ed by statute, it gives to them a semi-official
character which attracts public attention to their
• The State in Relation to Labor. — 11'. Stanley Jevons, p. 103.
ARBITRATION. 23
sessions and awards. In this way a critical and
acute public opinion, or sentiment, becomes one
of the strongest aids to fair and honest awards,
and it is one of the most effective preventives
against their repudiation. Often after the parties
consent to arbitrate, they disagree on the simple
matter of selecting the board. When the law
points a clear, fair, and uniform system of crea-
ting boards for voluntary arbitration, it takes
away this trivial cause of disagreement. And a
statute of this nature can go a long ways towards
providing for many of these preliminary steps
without in any way impairing the mutuality of
this system of arbitration. It can fix the mini-
mum number of each party in the board; it can
prescribe by whom the board may be officiall}^
designated as such, and it need not at all interfere
with the selection of those who are to act upon it;
it can fix the jurisdiction of these boards as to
the territory and trade in which the}^ may arbi-
trate; it may limit and define the service of the
members of the board, provide for the time and
manner of electing the umpire, and may give the
boards powers as to testimony, as well as prescribe
their manner of making an award.
Voluntary arbitration then may be regarded
as the only practicable method of settlement, if
the parties arbitrate at all. Any other system
24 ARBITRATION.
can be seen at a glance to be inoperative. While
decrees of statutory boards could be enforced
against the employers, they would as a rule be j
ineffectual against the workmen. Unfortunately
the latter are oftentimes proof against the execu-
tion of judgments. But when it is left purely to
the honesty and fair play of both sides, the ,
chances of success are improved wonderfully.
Lack of the world's goods does not necessarily 1
mean lack of honor. The great mass of work-
men who would agree to arbitrate could safely be
relied upon to abide the awards. This objection
against voluntary tribunals of arbitration cannot
be sustained, for the instances are few where
either party has put his honor behind him and
refused to abide the award. The power of public
opinion is also great in sustaining a just award.
Boards in every instance consist of an equal
number of workmen and capitalists or employers.
Out of this body there may be appointed a com-
mittee of inquiry or a board of conciliation.
This latter l)oar<l takes cognizance of individual
disputes, and is wholly informal. It deals with
lesser troubles; it gives no decision on any given
matter, because no subject is ever referred to
them for settlement. They are the good Samari-
tans of tlie Board of Ar})itration. As their name
indicates, the}' are conciliators. If they fail by
ARBITRATION. 25
friendly urging and inquiry to bring harmony,
the matter in discussion goes before the arbitra-
tors to be acted on formally. When the dispute
finally reaches the arbitrators, the claims of the
workingmen are stated by their Secretary; and
the objections, or vice versa, by the emplo^^ers
through their Secretary. The matter is then one
of judgment, reason, and justice. The parties
are presumed to meet as friends and as equals.
As well might there be no meeting at all if the
assembling is in any other spirit. And this is
one signal characteristic of success in arbitration,
that under it the parties meet as arbitrators before
they become enemies. Hence the necessity of
having the board erected before any strike or
dispute occurs. In time of harmony prepare for
the " winter of discontent." In prosperity is the
time to prepare for the antagonism of labor and
capital. When hard times come, and the compe-
tition of labor within itself is great, it is almost
impossible for the industrial classes to procure
their just concessions from capital. They become
enemies, and enemies can never arbitrate; friends
always can.
The man who works is equal to him for whom
he works. The difference, if any, between them
is in the qualities of their individual manhood,
and not in any positions they occu})V. Tlu*
20 ARBITRATION.
failuro of the first board of arbitration in South
Staffordshire, England, was due to the fact that
the employers never realized this. They met,
were seated comfortably at a table with pens, ink,
and j)aper, and installed their chairman; the
workmen were shown to a bench at the side
of the room, and seated as if they were in court
awaiting to be tried, rather than fellow citizens
assembled to agree upon a contract which was as
important to them as to their emplo3'ers. Under
our American ideas such an affair would not
settle anything.
After the erection of a board, a matter of vital
importance is the selection of an umpire. This,
like the board itself, should be settled upon before
the contest ripens into the heat of a litigation.
Who he should l)e, liis qualities and capacities,
form the gravest questions in voluntary arbitra-
tion. Must he have a familiar and practical
knowledge of the subject-matter in dispute?
Experience in this proves nothing. Some of the
best uiiij>ii-('s in tliis country and in England
have been devoid of any practical knowledge of
the trade in wliicli the dispute occurred. Thomas
Plughes, M. P., Thomas Brassey, M. P., Henry
C'rompton. and lUipert Kettle have been among
tlic most triist(Ml and successful umpires in
Englisli arl.ili-ation, but none of them have been
ARBITRATION. 27
practically connected with manufacturing or min-
ing trades in which their judgment has always
been received. They have had the confidence
of the disputing parties, and have given their
references the strictest and most impartial inves-
tigation. Just as successful arbitrators were men
who have been extensive manufacturers, as A.
J. Mundella and others. The workingmen in
England call those who decide upon knowledge
not acquired practically, " stranger referees," and
they have been strangely prejudiced against them,
but are beginning to view the matter differently,
so that it makes but little difference at this time.
The cause of antipath}^ to "stranger referees" is
principally one of class, a feeling that there is a
lack of sympathy for the laborer. This objection
in this country would hardly arise, as both parties
would demand good judgment and honesty, and
would have no fears as to prejudice.
The umpire is distinctively a judge. If a
man will put himself through a course of study
on the subject of his decision, there is no reason
why he should not give as fair and as competent
a judgment as if he were engaged all his life in
the business. Courts of law are the daily ex-
amples of men dealing in practical things with a
theoretical knowledge. This is notably the case
in patent litigation. Questions of the most
28 ARBITRATION.
practical and scientific machinery are decided
witli justice and competency. The principal
quality desired in an umpire is integrity and
levelheadedness, with an intelligent conception
of what he is to pass upon.
It is not desirable here to lay down any
principle or basis on which awards can be made.
That is a duty peculiarly attached to each indi-
vidual case of arbitration. The Board having
met, arp supposed to be within honest reach of
ever}' fact and all information that will give them
light in an honest investigation. If the dispute
be one of wages, assuredly the basis becomes the
ability of the manufacturer to pay, the condition
of the market, and the demands of the workmen.
To agree upon a basis is the very object of a
board of arbitration. Mr. Weeks, in his report
referred to, concerning this, says: '*As a matter
of information it ma}' be said that the practical
operation of the boards, while all the facts rela-
tive to prices, competition, demand and supply,
both of labor and products, are considered, wages
are generally based on the selling price of the
article produced. Mr. Kettle, in a noted arbitra-
tion in the coal trade, found a certain date at
which the wages paid for work about the colliery
was satisfactory to l)Oth sides. This became the
ideal, and served to fix in a general way a ratio
ARBITRATION. 20
of wages to prices that would be a satisfactory
one to both parties. Due notice was taken of
any changes that had occurred that should serve
to increase or diminish this ratio, such as reduc-
tion in the hours of labor, increased expense
from the mine inspection laws, etc.; and the
arbitrator in his award endeavored to approxi-
mate this ratio as near as could be done without
injustice or injury." This, of course, necessitates
an examination of the books and business of the
employer. For this reason it has been strenu-
ously objected to. But the objection as compared
with the result at issue is certainly captious. No
investigation that would reveal transactions nec-
essary to business success is demanded. The
question of simply what was the selling price at a
time agreed upon, is all the board would require
to be answered. Any confidential imparting of
information would certainly be regarded by the
board, representing, as it is supposed, the honor-
able element of labor and capital.
After all, it will be asked, may not the Board
of Arbitration and umpire make a mistake, per-
haps against the wageworker and perhaps against
the employer? Certainly. But is there as much
likelihood of error in the decision by arbitration
as there is in the violent and blind impulses of a
strike or a lock-out? As long as candid and cool
/
30 ARBITRATION.
investigation is superior to rash aiul unreasonable
action, thus long will arbitration be less fruitful
of mistakes than strikes. Under the control
of voluntary arbitration, facts and figures of
business take the place of malevolence and mere
assertion, and where a board w^ould err once, a
strike would err three times. Besides, no board
or uni})ire, such as would be selected by intelli-
gent workmen and employers, could make a
grossly serious mistake. And such a departure
as might even sometimes be made — and to err is
a parcel of our humanit}' — would only equal a
short time in amount of wages. Even presuming
an error, is not that far superior to a strike?
Boards of Arbitration cannot operate so as never
to commit an error, but they commit fewer errors
than contests of force.
The force of public opinion in sustaining the
justice of an award of a board, is an important
aid to the system of voluntary arbitration. In
this labor would have the advantage, for invari-
ably ill strikes, where justice is on the side of the
worker, the opinion of an enlightened and reading
American i)ublic has been with him. This feeling,
that the arbitrators themselves would have to
face the bar of public sentiment, and hear the
reflex judgment on their award, would be the
most potent i\wU)r in prompting them to w^eigli
ARBITRATION. 31
candidly, justly, and carefully all that comes
before them. This would, of course, be cumula-
tive to their own independence, integrity, and
ability.
In order to be of the most advantage, these
tribunals should be permanent, having a con-
tinued existence, and ready at any time to take
jurisdiction of a dispute. In this way the best
material may be obtained for the board, and its
judgments will be calmer. To select the arbitra-
tor from the participants of a struggle, manifestly
is an impediment to a fair judicial hearing. The
most successful boards of arbitration are those
that have been permanent and held stated meet-
ings at regular intervals. This periodical assem-
bling of employers and employed to discuss small
differences, perhaps, or questions of social ad-
vantage to each, is a very valuable feature. It
gives both parties a knowledge of their demands,
necessities, and expenditures. The facing of
capital and labor as companions and friends is
of equal benefit and interest to each. Many of
the disputes in the industrial world can be attrib-
uted to lack of information in the party origina-
ting the struggle, while a social contact and a
mutual interchange of conditions and abilities
will make labor just in its demands and temper
capital in its claims. And thus b}^ the modera-
82 ARi:iTKATI()N.
tion and forbearance peace can dwell V)et\veen
them, and more be obtained by both sides than
if disputes were summarily created.
The submission, discussion, and decision of
industrial (juestions to voluntary boards of ar-
bitration is purely a matter of business, and is
clearly the best plan devised by the wit of man to
avoid unnecessary destruction and loss to labor.
No other system recomuiends itself in which "a
fair price for a fair day's work " is arrived at on
as just a basis and by as reasonable a method.
The conflicts of suspicion and distrust between
manufacturer and employes render the first
periods of boards of arbitration trying, and, at
times, discouraging. Oppositions growing out of
''matters of sentiment" are generally foolish and
intangible, and furnish no proper cause for the
exercise of the peace making power. At the
same time they are apt to be the source of
disputes. The best remedy for this unfortunate
condition of tilings is the friendly contact and
association of representative workmen and em-
ployers, til at necessarily follows from the opera-
tions of voluntary tribunals.
The arbitration which is clothed with the
})()wer of the law in its methods of deciding and
in ciitorcing its awards, has some ardent and
intelligent advocates. Some friends of arbitra-
ARBITRATION. 33
tion have claimed that a legal power to enforce
the award is fully necessary to a completeness in
voluntary arbitration; others, equally sincere and
desirous of its success, have maintained that to
make arbitration anything but voluntary would
be to make it inoperative. There are now in
existence three laws in England relating to arbi-
tration, and all providing for a legal enforcement
of the award. The first of these, before referred
to, was passed in 1824, and the others in 1867
and 1872. These latter acts were originated by
Lord St. Leonards and Mr. A. J. Mundella, M. P.,
respectively. They embody the compulsory pro-
cesses in a court of arbitration, as well as some
minor provisions as to method of appointment,
time of meeting, etc. Execution upon goods and
chattels, as well as impris'onment, are the com-
pulsory manners of enforcing awards. These
acts have not been taken advantage of, and they
are not regarded with much favor by manu-
facturers or workmen. The bright instances of
the success of arbitration have uniformly been
those purely voluntary. The rigors of the law
have not in any case been called into play to
enforce an aAvard. That " aggregate honor of
individuals, which our French neighbors call
esprit du corps," is the power which sustains the
decrees of voluntary boards.
34 ARBITRATION.
There is no question but that where all the
proceedings have been voluntary, that some
awards which can be equally enforced upon
capitalists and workmen, would be improved by
conferring legal process. Instances have occurred
where awards have been repudiated and rejected,
but as compared with those acted upon and
sustained, their number is few. In some cases
where the feeling has been strong, upon the
publication of an adverse award there has been
sulking and disappointment among workmen, but
the whole line of experience confirms the state-
ment that most awards, satisfactory or otherwise,
have been acted on. The management of boards
should be to eliminate from their decisions all
feeling of conquest or defeat. The business aspect
of the arbitration, and the desire to promote
harmony and good-will, should be steadfastly
adhered to.
The history of labor, especially of P^ngland
and France, is the brightest testimony to the
success of voluntary arbitration. Its unques-
tioned benefits and harmonizing influence seem
to have given labor renewed confidence in its own
intellectual strength, while capital has multiplied
its successes with justice and generosity.
One incident in the development of industrial
arbitration is worth recording, for it sheds a
ARBITRATION. 35
volume of light upon its advantages: Eighteen
years ago the North of England iron district was
in a state of anarchy, resulting from the social
struggles of labor against capital. A terrible
conflict about wages paralyzed the trade. The
capital invested in the enormous mines and iron
lay idle for months. " Crowds of hunger smitten
workmen begged for bread in the streets, or
savagely denounced the capitalists who were
trying to starve them into submission." There
had been strikes and lock-outs in this region
before that of 1866, but that year saw the most
horrible of all. After four months of idleness,
ruin, and disaster for all concerned, the workmen
were compelled to work at their employers' terms.
An ill-natured, malevolent era of peace followed.
The revival of trade in 1869 brought on all the
old symptoms of past strife, and, filled with fear
and disgust, workman and owner waited for the
storm to burst. But both were saved by the
establishment of a board of arbitrators, which has
existed successfully ever since. By this simple
but effective method the iron trade of the North
of England rid itself forever of the curses of
strikes and lock-outs. And there are now no fewer
than 100,000 wageworkers in that region practi-
cally secured against industrial trouble by the
adoption of the principle of voluntary arbitration.
'?,(') ARBITRATION.
Principles, which, when practically api)lied,
work out such results, are worthy of the best con-
sideration. They appeal to our better humanity.
The spirit of the times puts force in the back-
ground in the settlement of conflicts, whether
individual or international. It only justifies the
appeal to force and arms when rights cannot
otherwise be protected or maintained. The pro-
gress that has driven duelling from society makes
nations hesitate before warring over fanciful
wrongs. The same progress condemns labor
taking the law into its own hands for the redress
of its wrongs. This suggests a question : Why
may not the same spirit of peace that is over-
spreading men and nations enter the arena of
labor's conflicts? That light of intellectual ad-
vancement, to which no nook or corner of our
race is impervious, has beamed upon the man
of labor, and brightened him into as shining a
figure as the man of capital. This is truer of the
American laborer than of any other. Here, in
the civilization of a new world and a new era, he
is a factor of the government in which he lives;
and, as he is this, it is the grossest injustice to
compel him to hght for his rights in an uneven
contest against capital.
Labor will never obtain its fullest meed of
success in its conflicts, save through the legitimate
ARBITRATION. 37
channel of intelligent contest. The stubborn
fight which is determined by brute endurance or
financial backing will be valueless and costly.
When the workingman meets his employer with
facts, and figures, and reason, in his demand for
higher wages, he will win his point, if he is right.
Society and public opinion will see that he does;
if he is not right, he ought not to win.
Tribunals to ,try the disputes between labor
and capital are the results of that same pro-
gressive evolution which has characterized every
branch of science, art, commerce, and industry.
They are the outgrowth of the elevation of labor.
A long time ago, in 1846, the ultimate resort
to peaceful settlement was prophesied by John
Bright in his speech on the Factory Bill. Speak-
ing, then, he said: "The working classes would
every day become more and more powerful and
intelligent, not by violent combinations or colli-
sions with their employers, but by a rational
union amongst themselves, by reasoning with
their employers, and by the co-operation of all
classes."
CHAPTER III
ARBITRATION IN FRANCE AND BELGIUM —
THE "CONSEILS DES PRUDHOMMES"
— THE ARBITRATION ACT OF AUSTRIA.
IT was late in the history of humanity before
labor was crowned with freedom. None of
the ancient nations recognized labor as any-
thing but slavery in one form or another. The
condition was but little changed for centuries.
England was subsequent to France in securing
liberty and standing to the laborer. The Magna
Charta of English liberties had no application to
the workers by hand and muscle. It was a gift
to the barons and their equals. It applied to
about half of the people of England at that time;
that is, those who were freemen. The laborer
was a villein, and a villein was a slave; he was
not considered a subject. He had no organiza-
tion or method of protection. For fifteen centu-
ries the only protector the laboring man had
against his owners and masters was the Church.:
i
ARBITRATIOX. 39
She stood, the enemy of the oppressor of the
poor, and she stood alone in her protectorate.
Afterwards, wlien the working classes obtained
representation in the legislature, they found in
the Parliament and lawyers friends and pro-
tectors. With these three intercessors the laborer
came into sunlight. The French laborer de-
veloped rapidly; and it is to France that we must
look for the origin of industrial arbitration. In
the history of her labor she furnishes the proto-
types of the peace and contlict of the trades
of to-day. for we find the immense strikes of
modern times foreshadowed by the Jacquerie
riots of the fourteenth century.
Unquestionably the first systematized method
of settling trade disputes in industrial history is
to be found in the " Conseils des Prudliommes.'"*
This institution is well defined in the law of its
origin (March 18. 1806) as follows: -The Cornells
des Pr/id'hommes is established in order to put an
end, by means of reconciliation, to the small
disputes which arise daily, either between em-
ployers and wcirkmen. or between foremen and
workmen and apprentices." These courts were
established by Napoleon at the petition of the
workingmen of Lyons. A similar institution
had existed in that city prior to the passage
•Councils of Wise Men.
40 ARBITRATION.
of tliis general law. In Lyons, then, may be
fixed the birth of arbitration. And it is fitting
that it should be so. This city, a perfect citadel
of labor, is the chief silk emporium of France,
and for the manufacture of the best qualities
of silks is unrivalled. It has thirty thousand
looms, and including the suburbs, over one
hundred thousand. The number of workers
emploj'ed there in the silk industry at the present
time is not less than one hundred thousand. A
strike is a rare occurrence, yet disputes are
frequent; but through the agency of these Conseih
dcs Prudliommes they are settled cheaply, and
without much loss of time or mone}" to either
operators or operatives. The example of Lyons
was soon followed by the principal cities of
France. In 1807, Conseils des Prudliommes were
established at Rouen and at Nismes; in 1808, at
Avignon, Carcasonne, Mulhouse, St. Quentin,
Sedan, Thiers, and Troyes; in 1809 and 1810, at
Rheims, Lille, Marseilles, and many smaller
towns. In 1813 there were twenty-seven of these
courts in France, and in 1840 there were sixty-
four. Paris established its first council December
20, 1844. They have been increasing yearly, and
ihcii- careers have been signalized by the most
satisfactory results. The statistics reveal the
fad, that '.10 per cenl. of the cases brought before
I
ARBITRATION. 41
them have been amicably settled. In 1847 there
were sixty-nine of these councils in France, and
in that year they had 19,271 industrial disputes
submitted to them; of this number, 17,951 were
adjusted by conciliation. In 1850, of 28,000
cases, 20,800 were settled by conciliation. The
number of Conseils des PrucVhommes in 1874
Avas 112; at the present time there are about
150.
The history of the Conseils des Prud'hommes*
shows that the struggle of the workingman in
France has been for equality with his employers.
This is illustrated by the decree of June 11, 1809:
" The Conseils des PruxF hom.mes will be composed
of masters and workmen; but in no case will the
numher of the latter be equal to that of the former^
In this condition the workmen were at the mercy
of their employers. It was not imbued with the
spirit of fair play; and the French mechanic is a
great deal like the American — he wants an equal
chance in all his conflicts. He struggled against
this; and in 1848, when almost everything was
reorganized in France, equal representation of
labor and capital was made the basis of the
*For an interesting account of the workings and history of the Conseils
des Prud'hommes, the reader is referred to "An Account of the Legislation
Affecting Labor and the Condition of the Working Classes in France, by M. Louis
Blanc," in the Report of the Committee on Trade Societies of Great Britain
—London, 18G0.
42 ARBITRATION.
council. Therefore, in the law of the 9th of
June, 1848, it was enacted:
"That in the ' Conseils des Prudliommes ' the
two conflicting interests should he represented by
an equal number of employers and employed;
" That this number should be neither below
six nor above twenty-six, and should in every
case be an even number;
''That the ^Prud' homines' belonging to the
class of employers should be elected by the em-
ployed from a list of candidates presented by the
employers ;
"That the 'Prud'hommes' belonging to the
class of employed should be elected by the em-
ployers from a list of candidates presented by the
employed;
" That in the event of the votes in the council
being ecjually divided, the President should have
a casting vote;
"That the council should be alternately pre-
sided over by an employer elected by the em-
ployed, and by an employed elected by the
employers."
The method of electing the members and the
ap})ointment of the presidents of the council
were changed by the law of June, 1853, and by
thai it was left to the employers to elect their
own representatives, and (o the employed to elect
J
ARBITRATION. 43
theirs; and the appointment of the President and
Vice-President was retained by the government.
At present each council consists of a Presi-
dent and Vice-President, not necessarily either
workmen or employers, and twelve members, six
of whom are elected by employers and six by
workmen. This board or council has cognizance
of all controversies arising between master-
manufacturers and their workmen, and also be-
tween the latter and their apprentices. Under
the law the term of half of each class of the
board expires every year. It is the first duty
of this court, in "case of a disagreement, to sit as
a court of conciliation; and, if it fails to bring
the parties to an understanding, it has the power
to arbitrate the dispute. On all matters where
two hundred francs or under is involved, it has
final jurisdiction, but in higher amounts there is
a right of appeal to the Chamber of Commerce;
in fact, every question, except that of future
wages, is a proper one for the Conseils des Prud'-
liommes to consider. The}^ may even consider
this question, if the disputing parties so agree.
It should be borne in mind that the operation
of these councils is not strictly voluntary. The
submission is voluntary, but the processes and
enforcement of the awards are sanctioned by the
penalty and powers of the law. Yet their con-
44 ARBITRATION.
ciliatory feature, which so closely resembles the
English system, is purely voluntary.
Tlie ol)Jectionable feature, especialh^ to the
American workman, is the intermeddling of the
government in selecting the presiding officer or
umpire. In this there is a radical departure in
the English S3'stem of voluntar}^ arbitration,
where the board itself selects the umpire. There
seems to have been a political object in the
French government framing the law thus. M.
Louis Blanc, in his letter " On Legislation Affect-
ing Labor in France," says of this: "I must give
Napoleon credit for using this weapon in such a
manner as is calculated to wheedle into submis-
sion to his sway the least enlightened portion
of the working classes; for the watchword of the
Presidents in the Conseils des PrucVliommes seems
to be, since the Empire was re-established: 'Let
us turn the scale in favor of the operatives;' and
I have it from workmen thoroughl}^ acquainted
with all that refers to their class, that whereas
under the reign of Louis Philippe the masters
mostly carried their causes, it is just the reverse
which hap})ens now, the imperial policy being to
indemnify the workingman by some material
advantages for the loss of those lofty ennobling
enjoyments, which man derives from the sense
of his self-dependence secured, and of his dignity
ARBITRATION. 45
unimpaired." This was the view of one of the
most eminent agitators of the labor question in
1860. The answer of subsequent years, in the
marked success of the councils, has largely
stripped the criticism of its force.
The worth of arbitration as practiced in
France, is testified to in the Reports of Lord
Lyons in 1870, " Respecting the Condition of the
Industrial Classes in Foreign Countries," the
statement on French labor closes as follows:
" To give an idea of the success of the Conseils
des Prud'hommes in terminating disputes by rec-
onciliation, it may be mentioned that in all in-
dustrial centres in which such courts exist, they
effect a reconciliation in ninety-five out of 100
cases brought before them. This satisfactory
result is easily explained. The election of the
Prudliommes implies the confidence of the elec-
tors in his uprightness and capacity. He natu-
rally exercises with a kindly zeal the functions
which have been awarded to him by his equals as
a mark of esteem; his voice appeals with effect
to feelings of justice and moderation, calms the
irritation of disputants, and diminishes exagger-
ated pretensions. Above all, the effect of his
good advice is not prejudiced by the professional
pleading of counsel. At the Bureau de Judg-
ment, as well as at the Bureau de Conciliation,
46 ARBTTRATION.
tlie parties must appear in person without the
intervention of a hiwyer."*
The workingmen of France, through their
organized unions, have given to their courts of
arbitration solid and substantial encouragement
and api^roval. This alone is the best certificate
of tlieir value. And yet how can it be otherwise
upon the exhibit of what they have accom-
plished? Lord Brougham, in the House of
I^rds in 1859, in a debate on strikes, said: "It
was impossible to read the annual report of the
Couseils des Prudliommes without wishing to see
some analagous provisions in our own law." His
wish was afterwards fulfilled.
In Belgium the French system is adopted, and
under the same name. While the success of the
councils in Belgium is not the same as in France,
they have been of incalculable benefit. The
manner of operating is practically the same in
both countries, and the composition and juris-
diction of the councils are similar. There is a
dillerence, however, in this: the Belgian Cfmscils
de.s Friidlioinmes have a criminal jurisdiction,
* Kach council has a Burcan dc Judgment and a Bureau de Conciliation.
The lliirenu dc Jiidiimeiil sits once a week, or once a fortnight; two-thirds of
the council form a court. The liurean dc Conciliation, formed of one Prud'-
tiomnie employer and one Prud' hommc workman, may be said to sit perma-
nently, alwayx ready to hear complaints and to transact business every day.
— lieportu ReHjtccling the Condition oj the Industrial Classes in Forei</n Countries,
Londtm, 1870.
ARBITRATION. 47
which has largely impeded their progress and
usefulness. They are clothed with a police court
process, which, in all countries where arbitration
has been tried, has proven detrimental to peace
between labor and capital. There is too much
of the machinery of the law, and not enough left
to the voluntary spirit of the workmen and
emplo3^ers.
In Austria, by the law of May 14, 1859,
arbitration courts were established in every im-
portant town and district. Their function is to
settle all disputes respecting wages, continuance
of work, fulfilment of contracts, and claims on
benefit clubs and relief funds. They are com-
posed of workmen and employers, each elected by
their own class. The workmen are paid by the
commune for every day's sitting. The jurisdic-
tion of the arbitration courts extends to the usual
subjects of dispute in the trades. Their awards
have the force and effect of judgments of courts.
Legal and compulsory process can be issued for
the purposes of investigation.
The uniform history of arbitration in France,
Austria, and Belgium has been that of elevation
of labor. While the lot of the workingman in
those countries in no way approaches the inde-
pendence and position of his^ American brother,
it is far ahead of what it might be; yes, what it
48 AKI'.ITRATION.
liiis \)vvn, wlicii he depended on the wager of
striking for a remedy for his wrongs. In Austria
these courts are tlie real and only methods of the
workingman's defense. The law makes strikes
and lock-outs illegal. Combinations by manu-
facturers and all other employers, to control trade
or lower wages, are made penal offenses. The
same is true of combinations of workmen, to
organize strikes or raise wages. Hence the neces-
sity and advantage of their arbitration courts.
But, as was before remarked, there is too much
governmental control to suit the American work-
man. Such courts would not operate in this
country, or even in England, but their history is
a step in the progressive march of labor to the
forum of judgment and reason. They are, doubt-
less, the best institutions for the countries in
which they exist. And they prove that the
verdict of an ojien and fair trial is preferable to a
conciiK'st wrung from unwilling hands, ofttimes
at fearful cost.
CHAPTER IV.
ANTHONY J. MUNDELLA, THE FOUNDER
OF ENGLISH ARBITRATION.
THE life of Anthony John Mundelhi, dis-
tinguished by Henry Crompton as " the
inventor of systematic industrial concilia-
tion," is an appropriate and necessar}^ introduc-
tion to the history of voluntary arbitration in
England.
His career in the English Parliament, as the
representative of Sheffield, which commenced in
1868, stamped him as a radical champion of the
rights of labor.
He is of half Italian and half English an-
cestry, and was born at Leicester in 1825. A
scion of that wide nobility — the common people,
his whole life is an index of his origin. He com-
menced life as a " printer's devil," but through
its early stages accumulated b}' indefatigable
industry a valuable education. At the age of
eleven years he was apprenticed to the hosiery-
")() ARBITRATION.
trade, in ^\■llicll he remained until his eighteenth
year. His business capacity and intelligence
attracted the attention of his employers, and in
his nineteenth year he was engaged as manager
of a large cotton trade enterprise. When twenty-
three years of age, at Nottingham he became
partner in one of the largest hosiery firms in
England, Hone, Mundella & Co. In this capacity
he was the employer of three thousand working-
men. It was here that he displayed that broad
Christianity and wise economy which have made
his name a lasting one in the history of British
industry.
In 1S(')() he conceived and put into practical
operation the first attempt at voluntary arbitra-
tion in P^ngland. The hosiery trade at that time
was paralyzed and torn with industrial strifes.
Employers and workingmen were at " swords'
points," and the only mutuality between them
was that of distrust and malevolence. The
season of eleven weeks was rife with strikes and
lock-outs; and it was out of this state of affairs
that the Nottingham Board of Arbitration and
Conciliation sprung up. After considering the
serious condition of trade and industry, Mr.
Mundella evolved a remedy. Says he, in his
testimony before the Trades Union's Commission
in bSCT: " 1 had heard of the Coiimih des Pnid'-
ARBITRATION. 51
liommes in France; and with one or two others I
built up a scheme in my imagination of what I
thought might be done to get a good under-
standing with our men, and regulate wages."
The employers held a meeting, and appointed
a conference committee of three from their num-
ber to meet with the workingmen.
The result is given in Mr. Mundella's own
way: "We three met perhaps a dozen leaders
of the trades union, and we consulted with these
men ; told them that the present plan was a bad
one, that it seemed to us that they took every
advantage of us when we had a demand, and we
took ever}^ advantage of them when trade was
bad, and it was a system mutually predatory.
And there is no doubt that it was so; we pressed
down the price as low as we could, and they
pressed up the price as high as they could. This
often caused a strike in pressing it down, and a
strike in getting it up; and these strikes were
most ruinous and injurious to all parties, because,
when we might have been supplying our cus-
tomers, our machinery was idle; and we suggested
whether we could not try some better scheme.
Well, the men were very suspicious at first;
indeed, it is impossible to describe to you how
suspiciously we looked at each other. Some
of the manufacturers also deprecated our pro-
52 ARBITRATION.
ceedings, and said we were degrading them and
humiliating them, and so on. However, we had
some ideas of our own, and we went on with
them; and we sketched out what we called a
Board of Arbitration and Conciliation."
Thus was instituted the first voluntary tribu-
nal of trade disputes in England, and it became
known as " The Board of Arbitration and Concil-
iation in the Clove and Hosiery Trade." It held
its first meeting at Nottingham, December 3,
1860, and was a harbinger of many others.
The reign of peace was a reign of success.
Ten years later, in the Contemporary Review, Mr.
Mundella reviews his woi-k as follows: " Since the
27th of September, 1860, there has not been a
l)ill of an}' kind issued. Strikes are at an end,
also. Levies to sustain them are unknown; and
one shilling a year from each member suffices to
pay all expenses. This — not a farthing of which
comes out of the pocket of their masters — is
equivalent to a large advance of wages. I have
inspected the balance sheet of a trades union
of ten thousand three hundred men, and I found
the expenditures for thirteen months to amount
to less than one hundred pounds."
'I'lic success of the Nottingham arbitration
attracted the attention of the public; and it was
recognized tluit at least one step had been taken
ARBITRATION. * 53
for the abolition of labor strikes and struggles.
Mr. Mundella received invitations from many
towns, notably Sheffield, to lecture upon his
system of voluntary arbitration. No other city
in England had suffered in her trade so much
from trade disputes as Sheffield. Her working-
classes and employers hailed with cheer this
application of new principles to industry. They
were tired of the many fruitless fights in which
they had engaged. And they not only gladly
listened to the new gospel of Mundella, but in
1868 they demanded that he stand as one of their
candidates for Parliament. This he did, and was
elected, running largely " ahead of his ticket."
He entered Parliament representing the work-
ingmen of Sheffield, yet clothed in his own
modesty. And right faithfully in his whole
political life has he stood by the interests of his
constituents. By the thoroughness and practi-
cality of his speeches, he soon became an ac-
knowledged leader. His speech on the Education
Bill was the most important in the debate, so
says Mr. Gladstone. It ought to have been. Mr.
Mundella had investigated by personal examina-
tion the school systems of the United States,
Germany, Switzerland, and Holland. In his
advanced and honored position he never forgot
the condition of his fellow toilers whom he had
54 ARBITRATION.
left beliind. He worked indefatigably night and
day to re})('al the Criminal Law Amendment Act,
which bore heavily and unjustly upon workmen.
The Factor}' Nine Hour Bill had no stronger
advocate and friend in all Parliament. To Mr.
jNIundella, more than any other one man, can be
credited the repeal of the former and the passage
of the latter.
If a comparison should be wanted in Ameri-
can public life for Mr. jMundella, no character
would be better suited for that purpose than
Thaddeus Stevens. The eminent Sheffield Lib-
eral possesses all the tenacity and stubl^orn con-
scientiousness of the Pennsylvania Commoner.
The fealty of Mundella to the interests of the
common people has made him one of their
tribunes. His position as the father of volun-
tary arbitration has made him a benefactor to the
laboring classes. And they knew it, too, for right
royally have they stood by him in sustaining his
Parliamentarv career. The motive which has
prompted him to place so much confidence in the
workingman when dealing with his employer,
seems to contiol liis political life. His speech at
Newcastle-on-Tyne, in November, 1884, during
the Franchise Pill agitation, was worthy of the
primest American. " Enfranchise the people;
and after you have enfranchised the peoi)le, they
ARBITRATION. 55
themselves are the best judges in what manner
they shall nse their power."
Mr. Mundella, in his public career, has given
his sympathy to the class from which he sprung;
at the same time he strongly discountenances any
preaching of the doctrine of antagonism between
capital and labor. He is emphatically a peace
advocate in labor struggles. By his own life and
experience he has demonstrated that violent
disputes between employer and workmen can
readily be dispensed with when both parties
exercise good judgment and fair play.
CHAPTER V.
RISE AND DEVELOPMENT OF ENGLISH
INDUSTRIAL ARBITRATION.
TO the American student of industrial arbi-
tration, the history of English labor forms
the starting point for all theories, plans,
and argument concerning it. While the social
and political condition of working classes in
England in no way approaches that of the Amer-
ican workingman, there is no other country of
Europe, at the present time, where capital and
labor are nearer on a level. But it has been a
long and l)itter struggle to bring about this condi-
tion. English capital has been a severe task-
master. Cruel, powerful, and enslaving methods
have l)een its most common Aveapons; and it has
only been within the past score of years that
lal)or has received even a })ortion of its dues, and
then only has it been by that agitation which has
summ()n(Mi capital to the bar of i)ublic opinion to
hear the cliiinis and petitions of the wagewoi'kers.
ARBITRATION. 57
By the power of co-operation, organization, and
arbitration, a repetition of the tyranny of past
years has been made impossible.
To read of the rise and development of the
principle of arbitration in England, is necessary
to a just appreciation of the principle itself. To
this end it is my purpose to present a succinct
statement of its progress. Mr. Weeks' Report
has been of much assistance in giving the present
relationship of voluntary arbitration and concili-
ation to labor; it is invaluable in studying this
question.
The beginning of the era of peace in the trade
disputes of English industry may be fixed in the
year 1860. It was in that year that Mr. Mundella
first made practical the theory of settling a labor
difficulty without a strike or a lock-out. The
hosiery and glove trade, with which he had been
long connected, is concentrated in Nottingham
and immediate vicinity. For years, almost cent-
uries, the struggles of violence were common
events between employers and employed. A not
unusual weapon of retaliation used by the work-
ingmen was to destroy the machinery of the
manufacturer. This violence, growing out of the
disputes of labor and capital, made it necessary
for Parliament to punish machine breaking with
death. In the year 1810 six persons suffered the
1
58 ARBITRATION.
death penalty for tliis offense. From 1710, espe-
c-iallv, u}) to ISCtO, the condition of the relations
of labor and capital was that of contending
military forces. These were times of peace; but
these were seasons of truce rather than of good
feeling. In 1860 there were three strikes in the
hosiery trade; and out of the state of affaii's
resulting from these conflicts Mr. Mundella con-
ceived, and carried into practical operation, his
"Board of Arbitration and Conciliation in the
Glove and Hosiery Trade," mentioned in the
preceding chapter.
The rules adopted by his board thus created,
are a model of all that is desired in a peaceful
adjustment of disputes. They have been satis-
factory from the first, and have scarcely been
amended at all since their adoption. I deem
them of sufficient historical importance in this
matter of arbitration, to be given to the reader
entire, as the first successful basis for voluntary
arbitration in England.
1. That a board of trade be formed, to be
styled ''The Board of Arbitration and Concilia-
tion for the Hosiery and (Hove P)ranches. "
2. That the object of said board shall be to
arliitrate on any questions relating to wages that
may l)e referred to it from time to time by the
eiii|»l(»yei-s oi' operatives, and by conciliatory
ARBITRATION. 59
means to interpose its influence to put an end to
any disputes that may arise.
3. The board to consist of eleven maiui-
facturers and eleven operatives. The operatives
to be elected by a meeting of the respective
branches. The manufacturers to be elected by a
public meeting of their own body. The whole
of the deputies to serve for one year, and to be
eligible for re-election. The new council to
be elected in the month of January, in each
year.
4. That each delegate attend the board with
full powers from his own branch, and that the
decision of the board shall be considered binding
upon the branch he represents.
5. That a committee of inquiry, consisting
of four members of the board, shall inquire into
au}^ cases referred to it by the secretaries. Such
committee to use its influence in the settlement
of disputes. If unable amicably to adjust the
business referred to it, it shall be remitted to the
board for settlement; but in no case shall the
committee make any award. The committee to
be appointed annually.
6. That the board shall, at its annual meet-
ing, elect a President, Vice-President, and two
Secretaries, who shall continue in office one year,
and be eligible for re-election.
60 ARBITRATION.
7. That the board shall meet for the trans-
action of business once a quarter; viz., the first
^londay in January, April, July, and October;
but on a requisition to the President, signed by
three members of the board, specifying the nature
of the business to be transacted, he shall, within
seven days, convene a meeting of its members.
The circular calling such meeting shall specify
the nature of the business for consideration, pro-
vided that such business has first been submitted
to the committee of inquiry, and left undecided
b}' them.
8. That all complaints submitted to the board
for their investigation be submitted in writing,
stating, as clearly as possible, the nature of the
grievance complained of; such statement to be
sent at least one week prior to the board meeting.
9. That, prior to any advance or reduction in
the rate of wages being considered by the board,
a month's notice shall be given in writing to the
Secretar3% that such change is desired.
10. That the President shall preside over the
meetings of the board, and, in his absence, the
\'ice-President; in the absence of both President
and Vice-President, a Chairman shall be elected
by a majority present. The Chairman to have a
vote, and in case of members being ecjual, tlie
Cliairinaii to have the casting vote.
ARBITRATION. 01
11. That any expense incurred by this board
be borne equally by the operatives and employers.
12. That no alteration or addition be made
to these rules, except at a quarterly meeting, or a
special meeting convened for the purpose. Notice
of any proposed alteration shall be given in
writing one month previous to such meetings.
These rules, it will be observed, embraced the
principle of conciliation as well as arbitration.
The "committee of inquiry" of section 5, were
conciliators; their mission was similar to the
Bureau de Conciliation of the ConseAls des Prud'-
Jwmmes. The presiding officer gave the casting
vote in case of a tie; but that was changed after-
wards so as to leave the casting vote in the hands
of an umpire, who was selected from outside the
board by the members, when they failed to agree
among themselves.
While this Nottingham board was the first
successful permanent and systematic board of
arbitration in England, it must be said that
settlements in trade disputes had been made prior
to this; but most of the boards of these instances
were simply temporary committees for the special
dispute. Yet there were arbitration boards com-
posed of workmen and employers in many trades,
especially the Scottish. The Scottish Miners'
Association was founded in 1852. The object was
I')2 AKHITHATION.
tlio jn'otection of miners' rights and privileges.
Tln'ir rules provided that " if at any time the
work or workmen tlierein find it necessary to
strike foi" an advance of wages, or from any other
cause, the district committee shall refer the matter
to a working arbitration." The rules are silent
as to the method of arbitrating. The most
sensible and conciliatory union of thirty years
ago was that of the Glasgow Tailors. That trade
has be(Mi remarkably free from strikes. I take
my view from their reports up to 1857. Nearer
to the Nottingham system of arbitration than
any other trade, seems the board of arbitrators
of the (xlasgow tailors. Their admirable pro-
visions for settling disputes are given in rules 11
and 21 of the union. These are as follows:
"This Society being established upon princi-
ples of strict justice, having for its object the
protection and furtherance of the interests of
both employers and employed, it is desirable that
all disputes which may arise between them
should l)e submitted to arbitration, as the most
speedy and equitable way of arriving at a con-
clusion: and it shall be the constant aim of the
Society to see that tliis desire be, as far as practi-
cable, carried out. * * * ]n the event of any
dispute arising, the men shall first reason the
matter with the employer; and, if unsuccessful,
ARBITRATION. 03
tliev shall immediately thereafter inform the
committee of the same, who will use their best
endeavors to bri-ng about an amicable adjustment
of the case. -^ * * The arbiters shall consist
of an ec|ual number of employers and emplo3'ed,
whose decision shall be final, the disputants first
subscribing a minute of submission, binding
themselves to abide by the same, or an agreement
binding them to enter into a regular submission
when required, containing the usual clauses."
The Glasgow potters, up to 1860, were remark-
ably free from strikes. The last general strike
Avas in 1836, and was a terrible ordeal for manu-
facturers and workmen, and long recollected b}^
the latter with dread. From reports to the
■ National Association for the Promotion of
Science," which held its Fourth Annual Meeting
at Glasgow, in 1860, it is found that one of the
main causes of the absence of strikes in the
"potteries" is the yearly agreement between
workmen and employers as to arbitration. The
clause is as follows: "If any dispute arise be-
tween the parties as to the prices or wages to be
paid by virtue of such agreement, the dispute
shall be referred to an arbitration board of six
persons, to consist of three manufacturers chosen
by the masters, and three working potters elected
by the workingmen." Tlie success of this method
64 ARBITRATION.
can be seen from the report to the Association:
"This arbitration clause has been much tried,
and has worked most successfully in ninety out
of one hundred cases."* In the long series of
struggles on labor disputes prior to 1860, we find
many instances of efforts at arbitration. I have
cited the foregoing as examples. The workmen
in a majority of cates favored a submission to
arbiters, thus showing a faith in the justice of
their claims. To the discredit of the masters,
they refused to submit their position to any such
investigation.
All this arbitration referred to was voluntary.
It was resorted to through the mutual action
of the employers and employed. As far as it was
tried it was satisfactory. The only instances of
successful settlements have always been of a
voluntary nature.
It was but natural that the agitation of such a
question should attract the attention of legis-
late )i-s and statesmen, and it was not long before
a l»ill was introduced into Parliament providing
for the establishment of tribunals to try labor
disputes. ^Ir. Mackinnon, M. P., in 1859 pre-
sented his " Bill for the Establishment of Courts
of Conciliation for tlie Adjustment of Differences
• See Report of the Committee on Trades Societies; Proceedings of National
Association for the Promotion of Social Science.— Lowdon, ISGO.
A
ARBITRATION. 05
between Masters and Operatives," This provided
for a system of arbitration, but it was permissive
or voluntary as to the erection of such. And,
strange as it may appear in the light of subse-
quent history, the trade combinations of Sheffield
strenuously opposed its passage as being objec-
tionable, because its courts were voluntary and
not compulsory. When we reflect that afterwards
Parliament passed laws providing for legal arbi-
tration, and that under them no arbitration has
ever taken place, it only shows the fluctuating
view workmen often take of their position.
The Mackinnon Bill never passed. It was
objected to in the House of Lords; and thus the
first attempt to create a legal board to adjudicate
trade disputes in England failed. While the bill
was pending, and while the Social Science Con-
gress was in session at Glasgow expressing grave
doubts as to practical arbitration, Mr. Mundella
was quietly operating his own splendid method.
The Wolverhampton system of arbitration
and conciliation, so called on account of its first
aj)plication at that place, was adopted in the
building trades there about three years after the
Nottingham system was originated. Judge
Rupert Kettle, of Worcestershire, was the advo-
cate and principal supporter of this method of
arl)itration, and he has for years been a zealous
5
66 ARBITRATION.
and able advocate of this peaceful contest of
labor and capital.
The building trades of Wolverhampton, Viki
all the rest of English trades up to the intro-^
duction of arbitration, had been subject to coi
troversies as to wages and customs, which in|
variably resulted in strikes and lock-outs. Thj
last strike, which continued seventeen weeks, wj
in 1863, and it crippled the industries of th^
town and vicinity very seriously. Capital wa^
timid and feared to invest; labor was sullen and*
seeking revenge. The strike finallv terminated,
but signs of dissatisfaction and further trouble
\vere apparent at the beginning of the building
season of 1864. The citizens and tradesmen of
Wolverhampton, through the Mayor, finally called
a meeting of the workmen and employers, to
take into consideration the feasibility of settling
their disputes otherwise than through the medium
of a strike. The result of this meeting, which
was held on the 14th of March, 1864, was that
the carpenters appointed six delegates to meet
with six delegates of the employers, for the pur-
pose of settling the impending difficulties. A
week afterwards these twelve delegates met and
selected an umpire, who should have the deciding
vote in case of a tie on the questions before them.
The umpire chosen was Mr. Kettle, who was, U)
ARBITRATION. 67
quote from one who knows him well, " remarkable
for very vigorous analysis and skilful unravelling
of complicated facts." His judicial temperament
and well known integrity inspired the disputing
parties with confidence in his adaptability to the
position. Briefly stated, the arbitration worked
to a charm. The award of the board was cheer-
fully accepted by masters and men; and the loss
of time, money, and contentment incumbent upon
every strike was averted to the great jo}^ of all
concerned. The Wolverhampton method was
worked out and systematized by Judge Kettle
without being acquainted with the features of Mr.
Mundella's Nottingham plan. It had some points
superior to the latter. For instance, one of the
distinguishing articles of Judge Kettle's method
was to select the umpire outside of the board.
He was a permanent standing arbitrator. This
was a decided advantage. A judge selected in
time of harmony will have the confidence of the
disputants much more than if he was selected
(hiring a pending discussion. Judge Kettle's
board formed a set of rules for each working-
establishment, and compliance with these rules
was the essence of the contract of hiring. A
radical weakness of the Wolverhampton method
was the absence of the conciliation feature in the
board. Upon tlie slightest dispute concerning
68 ARBITRATION.
the rules, wages, or other matter, it was necessary
for the entire board to assemble and pass upon
the matter in dispute formally. It can be readily
seen that one of the most effective instruments
for peace between employer and employed, is the
conciliatory feature of arbitration. The powers
of conciliation, however, were afterwards added,
and, according to Judge Kettle, have been " found
in practice more useful than the arbitration
rule."
Both of these systems, the Nottingham and
Wolverhampton, advocated by Mr. Mundella and
Judge Kettle respectively, have formed the basis
for all the voluntary arbitration now in force in
England. The spirit of these systems has spread;
and now in the most important and wide-spread
industries of that country strikes are a relic of a
past barbaric era. If they are not entirely
abandoned, they are, at least, rarely heard of.
The iron industry of England is its staff of
industrial life. For' years the mill workers and
miners were so oppressed by the ironmasters that
a strike in an iron district was almost a civil war.
It meant lawlessness, vandalism, bloodshed, and
misery. This was especially so in the North of
England iron trade, to Avhich I have before
referred. For sixteen years the disputes of labor
and capital in the rolling mills of England have
ARBITRATION. 69
been settled by arbitration, and it has been an
era remarkably free from strikes. The board of
arbitration for the North of England iron busi-
ness was, as all efforts of this kind usually are,
the outgrowth of a strike. It was formed on
March 22, 1869. It is a permanent institution,
and has the usual equal representation of em-
ployers and employed, as well as the conciliation
committee taken from the members of the board;
in truth, arbitration in its just and full applica-
tion must necessarily be about alike in all systems
and trades. Speaking of this board, Mr. Weeks,
in his report, says: "At the close of 1875, it
represented thirty-five works and 13,000 sub-
scribed operatives. These works had 1,913 pud-
dling furnaces — more than all Pennsylvania, and
half as many as the entire United States. During
the year 1875 the standing committee investigated
forty disputes. Since its organization there have
been eight or nine arbitrations on the general
questions of wages, and scores of references in
regard to special adjustment of wages at partic-
ular works." The awards of the board from 1869
to 1874 in fixing wages have been freely and
honorably accepted without a single repudiation;
and this has been uniform, both in the decrease
and the increase of wages. The justice and
necessity of a change of wages must have been
70 ARBITRATION,
ver}^ apparent to the board before an alteration
would be decided upon.
A similar board was organized in the South
StafFordshire iron business, but it did not prove
as effectual for good as that of the North of
England. This was owing to a dispute between
trade unionists and outsiders. The labor parties
represented undertook to deny admission to the
board of non-unionists, and as a result it failed.
The right principle in arbitration makes no dis-
tinction between labor of au}^ kind; if that is not
done, and the formation of the arbitration tribu-
nal is to be controlled by trade unions, it ceases
to have that feature of independent justice neces-
sary to success. Since the failure of the first
attempt on a trade union basis, there was organ-
ized in 1875 "The South StafFordshire Iron Trade
Conciliation Board," with the objectionable points
of the old board left out. It has operated with
success. In October, 1878, the market required
the usual reduction of wages, which the board
ujx)n careful examination decreed. The award,
although bearing hard on the workmen, was con-
scientiously — of course not cheerfully — abided
by. And prior to and since that time, there were
the usual reductions and increase of wages fol-
lowing the fluctuations of the market, I mention
these large reductions of wages because they have
ARBITRATION. 71
been the motive powers of causing strikes in tlie
past history of English labor. At the present, in
the manufacturing regions of England where
these boards of arbitration are in vogue, the
struggle of labor against capital is made before
these tribunals; it is a struggle of reason and
sense. And although it is sometimes decided
against the workmen, the award is acquiesced
in. Advantages are often gained by both parties
that could never be realized from a strike or
lock-out.
In the English coal regions of Northumber-
land and Durham, and in the South Wales dis-
tricts, the peaceful method of settling trade
disputes has been applied with much success.
Attempts at arbitration have been made in other
districts, with not very brilliant results. These
attempts were made frequently before the syste-
matic arbitration now adopted came into vogue.
In most of these instances eflPorts at arbitration
have been made by the men, and as often refused
by the operators. Notably in the West Yorkshire
coal strike and lock-out as far back as 1858, wlien
the miners offered to submit to arbitration, and
the employers not only declined, but refused an
interview to the miners' representatives. And in
the strike of the Scottish miners the same thing
was done. Prior to 1873 the rejected efforts at
72 ARBITRATION.
arbitration in the coal trade were caused by the
mine owners and masters. But there has been a
vast improvement in the public sentiment of
operators on this question within recent years.
Mr. Weeks reports that in the Northumberland
coal region, wages and other matters of dispute
have been settled by arbitration. Since 1873,
under the promotion of Judge Kettle, a syste-
matic board has been in operation. Mining
customs are the principal subjects of discussion
next to wages. A very successful arbitration was
accomplished in the Northumberland district in
1877. In May of that year the operatives received
notice from their emplo3^ers that there would be a
reduction of wages, and that they would no longer
be allowed a free house and free coal. The resuh
was, twelve thousand out of fourteen thousand
miners struck. They were very bitterly opposed
to arbitration, and withdrew their confidence from
such of their leaders as favored it. Afterwards
the parties agreed to arbitrate, and the strike was
broken l)y the award of a board of arbitration,
over which a })rominent member of Parliament
presided as umpire. In Durham, and other parts
of England, there have been arbitrations in the
coal trade which have proved boons to the work-
men. A careful examination of the reports on
the results of the trade tribunals to try industrial
ARBITRATION. 73
disputes in this braiicli of English labor, shows
some queer facts. '^ In some quarters it seems
that the intellectual capacity of the workmen is
not yet high enough to abandon the brutal
methods of a strike. Where they have arbi-
trated, it is with reluctance that they have
accepted awards; in some instances they have
openly repudiated them. But it can be truth-
fully said, however, that these cases have been
rare.
In many other instances the system of arbi-
tration and conciliation has been successfully
applied. The lace trade of Nottingham is con-
trolled by a board formed on the plan of the
hosiery trade at the same place. It is a per-
manent court of arbitration, and has met the
warmest expectations of its founders. The
moving sentiment among the trade unions, as
*In South Yorkshire and North Derbyshire Mr. Mundella has arbitrated
a number of disputes the present year. At Barnsly an eight months' strike
was settled by Mr. Whitewell and Mr. Mundella. Tliere have been successful
arbitrations in the coal trade at Ashton, Oldham, North Staffordshire, Cleve-
land, North of England, and Lancashire. In South Staffordshire a sliding
scale was adopted in 1874. but its working was not satisfactory, owing to a
decline in coal being much greater than was expected. At Kadstock there
have been two awards, one by Mr. Mundella and the other by Mr. Thomas
Hughes, M. P. In North Wales there have been several arbitrations. In all
these cases there has seemed to be an earnest desire on the part of the leaders
of the unions to hold men to the awards, telling them that they were bound
in honor, and threatening to withdraw from their positions if the men were
false to their word. The Welsh colliers are rough, uneducated men, however,
and have forgotten honor and interest, and rejected awards that have been
made; and at present arbitration is not practiced in this district.— U'cet*-'
Report on English Arbitration, December, 1S7S.
<4 ARBITRATION.
well as the capitalists, is that the time of strikes
is past. Their conclusions are heing proved by
the fact, that every trade union in England
indorses arbitration, and that capital is sub-
mitting to trial at the tribunals where labor has
an equal voice with its employer.*
Arbitration in England that has been written
of herein has been purely voluntar}^ arbitration.
The sj'stems advocated and established by jNIr.
Mundella and Judge Kettle are extra statu to r3\
But within a few 3'ears acts have been passed
which have been intended to further and aid
voluntary arbitration. The first of these, by
Lord St. Leonards, was passed in 181)7. It
operates only when called into being by the
Justice of the Peace, and there is no |)erraanency
in the board so created. Unlike the Mackinnon
Bill of 1859, it is compulsor}'. No cases of arbi-
tration have been reported under the act, and it
is practically obsolete. The law of 1872, by Mr.
Mundella, known as "The Arbitration (Masters
and Workmen) Act, 1872," is practically an effort
to enforce the awards arrived at by voluntary
arbitration, and makes binding on all parties the
agreements entered into by them. In the " Mem-
orandum " the uses of the act are summarized,
which 1 quote as follows:
i
*See Ai'i'ENDix I.
ARBITRATION. 75
''1. To provide the most simple machinery
for a binding submission to arbitration, and for
the proceedings therein.
" 2. To extend facilities of arbitration to
questions of wages, hours, and other conditions
of labor, also to all the numerous and important
matters which may otherwise have to be de-
termined by justice under the provisions of the
Master and Servant Act of 1867.
" 3. To provide for submission to arbitration
of future disputes by anticipation, without waiting
till the time when a dispute has actually arisen,
and the parties are too much excited to agree
upon arbitrators."
I infer from the expressions of the press, and
from the experience of those interested, that the
cause of arbitration in England has been but
little advanced by Parliamentary legislation.
That most powerful of all statutes, the public
sentiment of the working people, has given it its
present firm and advanced position. The view
of Professor Jevons, that arbitration should be
free from the law and lawyers, seems to be the
opinion of the practical adherents of voluntary
arbitration. I am not certain but that they are
correct. Not that the "law or lawyers" will be
of any injury, but in the large majority of cases
of arbitration between capital and labor, both
7G ARBITRATION.
parties are usually execution-proof. It deals
purely with the acts of men; and no law can be
passed to compel men to do something they do
not want to do. In voluntary arbitration the
force of honor and sentiment, public and private,
is the only Avrit that can execute an award.
The history of English voluntary arbitration
is full of lessons to the American workingman.
It appeals to all the self-interest as well as the
manhood of the American manufacturer. The
experience of the past quarter of a century has
demonstrated that all the difficulties which arise
between capital and labor are capable of a just
and inexpensive solution. That under the in-
fluence of a sentiment which opposes strikes, and
favors a fair submission to arbitration, the social,
political, and financial condition of the emplo^'er
is far advanced al)ove what it was thirty years
ago.
CHAPTER VI.
VOLUNTARY ARBITRATION IN THE UNI-
TED STATES.
FIFTEEN 3^ears ago the English representa-
tive at Washington, in a report to his own
government on the condition of labor in
this country, wrote as follows:
"There are few countries in which the work-
ingman is held in such repute as in the United
States of America.
" The laboring classes may be said to embrace
the entire xVmerican nation.
'' Every man works for a living, follows a
profession, or is engaged either in mercantile or
industrial pursuits.
"The prosecution of the humblest calling acts
as no bar to promotion in the social scale.
"The lowl}^ citizen of to-day may aspire to
Presidential honors to-morrow."*
* Reports Respeetiug the Condition of the Industrial Classes in Foreign
Countries. Presented to both Houses of Parliament by Her Majesty's Com-
mand.— Lo/ido/i, 1S70.
78 ARBITRATION.
The most intense American could not state
more happily the truth concerning our people in
a less number of propositions. The expression
that the American nation is one of laborers is
emphatically true. There is no permanent class
in this country but the laboring class. All our
people derive their origin from workers of muscle
and brain — from those who in 3'ears gone by
cleared awa}' the forests, and planted in virgin
soil the seeds of what has grown to be a tremen-
dous testimony to human genius and skill, or
from those of later growth and arrival, who have
brought from other lands elements of strength
that have helped to build up our nationalit3\ It
is true that wealth and capital have grown up
among this great people, but they came from labor
and lal)or's earnings. No royal road to position,
wealth, or i)Ower is found in this republic, where
every num is the peer of his brother. The only
aristocracy that will stand is the aristocracy of
intellect. The voice of labor, when it sends forth
its demands in the " parliament of man," is just
as powerful as the capital for which it works.
When it fails to obtain the rights due it under
justice and the law, the fault is not with the
people. There is no country in the world where
there is less excuse for the workingman laboring
under unjust disadvantages than in the United
ARBITRATION. 79
States. Here, as a part and factor of the " j)Owers
that be," he should be the last to allow himself to
be deprived of his rights.
And yet we find, as in the old world, whenever
there is a clash between money and muscle, the
latter is generally worsted. This is not due in
any manner to our laws, sentiment, or institu-
tions, but rather to a failure of the methods
adopted by organized labor in its conflicts with
capital. The law which in the wager of battle
makes a victor of the stronger, gives capital the
advantage in a mere struggle for vantage ground
where endurance and mone}^ are the only weapons
used. As long as American labor has no other
way by 'which it can enforce its claims but by
strikes, just so long will it be at the complete
mercy of capital. And as long as the manu-
facturer, mine operator, and mill owner refuse to
listen to the argument of labor, thus long will
they find an enemy in the workingman.
Capital must learn to live not for profit alone,
but should remember that labor is its handmaid,
and profit at the unjust expense of the emplo^-ed
is a moral as well as a social crime. Labor has
much to learn also: the first is, that to struggle
with capital when the choice of weapons is left to
the latter, is a folly and will always be a failure.
Labor, by the equity of humanity, should be
80 ARBITRATION.
willing to accept decreased wages with decreased
profits, and the employer should be equally just
by paying increased wages with increased profits,
provided alwa3^s that the increase or decrease
of profits is not the result of unhealthy competi- I
tion. Just and safe as this method may appear,
it never enters into the relationship of employer
and employed. This consideration by the
workers of labor and capital, with the advan-
tages and depressions of trade, will have its
fullest and fairest application under a system of
arbitration.
The principle of appealing to the judgment,
intelligence, and fair play of a tribunal, without
the ceremony or technicalities of the courts, is
peculiarly adapted to the American workingman.
And it is strange that a greater number of peace-
ful settlements of trade disputes in this manner
has not been made. One reason is that there is
being sowed almost daily seeds of poison among
the American working classes. Those professional
labor agitators who })reach that there is an eternal
and irrepressible antipathy between capit-al and
labor, are the worst enemies of arbitration and
the workingman. In the same ranks, and with
the same doctrine, is the Anarchist, the Socialist,
and the Communist — he of whom Ebenezer
Elliott, the Corn Eaw rhymer, satirically sung:
ARBITRATION. 81
" What is a Communist? One who hath yearnings
For equal division of unequal earnings;
Idler or bungler, or both, he is willing
To fork out his penny and pocket your shilling."
Their wild Utopian schemes are seductive
beside the plain business proposition of compro-
mise. They urge strikes when there is no ground
for differences beyond sentimentalism, and they
find folloAvers too. There is a romance and
daring similar to war, that makes strikes par-
tially seductive. They are " fighting capital," a
shibboleth which, in the mouth of a workingman
who never works, is a powerful incentive to his
brother who toils and sweats for his bread, to
conjure up his wrongs and "go out." The
liberty of speech, of press, and of action have
all been exhausted in sustaining strikes, and
arbitration in its systematic character, as applied
in England, has had but a limited history in the
United States. In this omission the injury has
been to the industrious labor, which has paid
dearly for it.
The idea of making an effort for a peaceful
solution of our disagreements is almost intuitive
to an intelligent man. The principle of co-
operation for self-protection is equally so. And
every feeling of confidence in the justness of our
cause would lead us to submit our disputes to
82 ARBITRATION.
some honest tribunal, rather than to the dan-
gerous and uncertain wager of battle or physical
endurance. That principle works broader and
better in this' country than in England; Ave are
emphatically a peaceful court-settling people.
The first instinct of an American is to co-operate
with his fellows, when all desire the same end;
his next is to submit to the will of the majority
or the court.
The history of industrial arbitration in the
United States is very short. There has been no
general effort towards the establishment of per-
manent and «3'stematic boards of voluntary arbi-
tration, but the principle shows itself in various
trades and under various circumstances. For
years there has existed in New York a society
called the Working Woman's Protective Union.
Its object is "to stand between the- woman who
unaided is battling in- the world for a living, and
those who would defraud her of what she has
honestl}^ earned; to encourage and sustain her in
this desire to support herself and others who may
be dependent upon her, and further to open up
new fields of labor and thus relieve those depart-
ments of industry now overcrowded." It has no
arbitrative functions, but I refer to it as an
instance of a powerful mediator between employer
and em[)loyed. It has uniformly prevented
ARBITRATION. 83
strikes and lock-outs by referring, in the name
of the working woman, to the courts for pro-
tection; and, as a result, this method of arbitra-
tion, forced and imperfect as it is, has settled
within sixteen \'ears 1,600 disputes, and $30,000
have been recovered from employers who sought
to impose upon their hands, and this, too, with-
out the cost of a cent to the women themselves.
Its official statements claim that the greatest
accomplishment of the Protective Union has
been the simple fact of its existence. The
knowledge of the working women and their
employers, that there was a place of protective
resort where fair play could be had, dissipated
again and again the possibilities of conflict and
wrong.
The first and most notable instance of perma-
nent and systematic voluntary arbitration in the
United States is that connected with the cigar
manufactory of Straiton tt Storm, of New York
City. This establishment, employing over two
thousand workmen, has since 1879 settled all its
disputes with its employes through a board of
arbitration. The question of wages, which is
always a difficult one for boards to handle, has
been successfull}' arbitrated by this board time
and again. The tribunal which constitutes this
voluntary court of capital and labor is composed
84 ARBITRATION.
of fourteen members.* The firm is represented
by two of its members and five foremen; and the
workmen by three hand workmen, two rollers, one
bunch maker, and one packer. Thus it is that
all the various interests of the employed are
represented on the board. Since January, 1870,
the operation and results of the board of arbitra-
tion have been of remarkable fairness and suc-
cess; and the language of the employers, in a
letter to the writer, after five years of practical
trial, is, " That the principle of arbitration and
the results following therefrom have proven ad-
vantageous to both ourselves and our employes,
far beyond anything that we had hoped from it,
at its inception." Like the boards at Notting-
ham and the other parts of England, the court
of arbitration has not only served to settle dis-
putes, l)vit it has brought employer and workmen
together and developed in each a better humanity
and a desire to do justice to each other. The
history of the JStraiton & Storm board of arbitra-
tion can be summed up in the single word,
success; and it has, from the statements of the
workmen, been a social and moral as well as a
financial benefit. Its record is a standing and
unanswerable argument against those who claim
that arbitration in trade disputes is impracticable.
*See ArPENDix II.
ARBITRATION. (S5
It will be observed that this exists under or by
virtue of no law, but is strictly voluntar}^ — the
mutual creation of the workmen and their em-
ployers. Its awards are intended to be fair and
honest, and in no instance have they been re-
pudiated.
The extensive and important industries of
mining and iron manufacturing in the State
of Pennsylvania have called into operation the
principle of arbitration more frequently there
than elsewhere in the Union. Various attempts
have been made to arbitrate disputes between
employers and workmen in the coal trade of that
State, but owing to a lack of mutual desire for
peaceful settlements on both sides they have not
been successful. The same can be said of the
iron trade.
Since 1878, through the efforts of Joseph D.
Weeks of Pittsburgh, whose report on voluntary
arbitration in England has made him the pioneer
advocate of that system in this country, popular
sentiment, both of capitalists and workmen, has
surely drifted to a favorable consideration of
arbitration. The reason of the general failure
of efforts at arbitrating in Pennsylvania has been
due principally to the fact that there was no
system in the boards; and again they were
usuallv selected and created during a strike, or
86 ARBITRATION.
impending a dispute. The contestants were in
no mood for a peaceful settlement of their
troubles. It was like embassadors of peace
coming on a battle field, and seeking to arrive at
terms amid the smoke and din of conflict. Suc-
cessful arbitration must have boards that are
pre-existing to a strike. This difficulty has been
provided for by recent legislation. The law
popularly known as the '' Wallace Act," on ac-
count of its author, William A. Wallace, of
Clearfield, which became a law April 30, 1883, is
the first piece of legislation in this country prac-
tically grasping the principle of voluntary arbi-
tration. It provides for the creation of tribunals
of arbitration in the iron, steel, glass, textile
fabrics, and coal trades. The law simply gives
ofiicial birth to the tribunal, and invests it with
power of investigation of disputes where they
are voluntarily submitted. It is unquestionably
the first effort at systematic arbitration ever
proposed in this country. In its operation and
effects it has, where it has been fairly tested,
proved of decided advantage."^ Of course, the
submission of all (juestions under this law being
purely voluntary, and the awards having no legal
or compulsory force, its principal value is in
giving character, ofiicial bearing, and system to
*See Appkndix III.
ARBITRATION. 87
tribunals acting under it. Its sessions and pro-
ceedings are under the eye of the public.
In Ohio there have been various attempts at
arbitration, but they have generally been during
a strike, or in a fixed and passionate dispute.
There has been no systematic efibrt made to
advance the principle until very recently.
In 1874, in the Tuscarawas Valley, arbitration
between the miners and operators was attempted,
the full proceedings of which are recorded by the
Mine Inspector in his report for 1876. The
Miners' National Association, to prevent a strike,
proposed a settlement'' by arbitration. It was
willingly entered into, and the award made,
which satisfied all, but was disregarded by one
leading coal company, and the arbitration was a
failure. In 1882, according to the Report of the
Bureau of Labor Statistics, successful arbitration
was accomplished in the shoe trade at Cincinnati.
A voluntary board of arbitration, similar to that
of Straiton & Storm, of New York, was organized
by employers and emploj^ed; and it is stated that
it successfully settled differences in work and
wages during its existence.
On February 10, 1885, the Legislature of Ohio
passed without a dissenting vote, a bill prepared
and introduced by the writer, providing for the
creation and operation of tribunals of voluntarj'
88 ARBITRATION.
•
arbitration.* The law contains the successful
features of voluntary arbitration as practiced in
England and on the Continent. While its opera-
tions are purely voluntar}-, it affords a cheap,
honest, and effective method for settling trade
disputes without strikes or lock-outs. Its semi-
official character makes it partly a public board
or institution. The Ohio law, while modelled
after, is essentially different from, the " Wallace
Act" of Pennsylvania, in many respects. The
most important difference is that the awards of
the board are binding, in honor, upon the parties
thereto without their subsequent ratification.
They pledge themselves, in Ohio, upon the sub-
mission of the question, to abide by the award;
in Pennsylvania it requires an acceptance before
the award is binding. As yet there has been no
practical application in Ohio of the law; but it
must be said that no occasion has arisen whereby
the law could be tested. Certainly, with Penn-
sylvania, Ohio is most in need of the application
of the peace principle in labor disputes. The
conflict in the Hocking Valle}^ crippled the capital
of the State, and almost beggared the labor of
that region. The cost, yet unknown and uncal-
culated, will equal the tax duplicate of a great
city.
•See Appendix IV.
1
ARBITRATION. 89
Ohio has too many interests at stake to over-
look the fatality of strikes. The question of how
to best give labor and capital, within her border,
a " fair field and no favor," is of the highest
importance to the State. By the census of 1880,
she had 20,699 workshops, and in them there was
employed 173,609 workers; her labor thus em-
ployed were paid $62,000,000 annually, and the
capital invested to employ these hands and pay
such wages amounted to $189,000,000. Her coal
measures include an area of nearly 11,000 acres,
and the yearly production therefrom averages
6,000,000 tons. Her average annual production of
iron ore is nearly 200,000 tons, and in 1880 nearly
550,000 tons of pig-iron was manufactured within
her boundaries. Can it be said that Ohio is not
interested in avoiding trade disputes? And is
not arbitration a vital question to her industries,
her capital, and her labor?
Yet, notwithstanding the immense value that
a system of arbitration would be to the industrial
capital of the United States, its practical applica-
tion has been decidedly limited. But as years go
by, and time and experience develop the futility
of strikes in bringing benefit to labor, the ob-
serving non-combatants sustain the doctrine that
peaceful arrangement of disputes is as desirable
and reasonable among men as between nations.
90 ARBITRATION.
There is a large, intelligent, and influential
element of citizenhood in this country that, upon
questions affecting the working masses, exercise a
most potent and widespread influence. I refer to
the trades unions of the United States. No
movement, be it worthy or unworthy, can for an
instant be advanced among the working people
unless it has their approval. Therefore it be-
comes a pertinent and necessary question, to ask.
What will the trades unions do upon the matter
of voluntary arbitration? Will they oppose it'.^
Do they approve it?
CHAPTER \^ I
TRADES UNIONS AND ARBITRATION,
AT.L men have a right to combine for the
accomplishment of an end just and bene-
ficial to those co-operating for that pur-
pose and not against the well-being of society. I
am not a member of, nor in any way connected
with trades unions, but I understand and am
satisfied, that their ends are legitimate, just, and
necessary. There may have been in their history,
and there undoubtedly has been, disorder, injus-
tice, and crime associated with their membership,
but they are to be held no more responsible for
such, than political meetings and associations are
for violations of law which often attend them.
The evil that is in them is not from them, nor
of them.
"In their essence, trades unions are voluntary
associations of workmen for mutual assistance in
securing generally the most favorable conditions
92 ARBITRATION.
of labor. This is their primary and fundamental
object, and includes all efforts to raise wages or
resist a reduction in wages; to diminish liours
of labor or resist attempts to increase the working
hours; and to regulate all matters relating td
methods of employment or discharge, and mode
of working. They have other aims also, some of
them not less important than those embraced in
the foregoing definition; and the sphere of their
action extends to almost every detail connected
with the labor of the workman and the wellbeing
of his everyday life."*
Both employer and employed have a perfect
right to combine to further their interests, pro-
vided that neither interfere with the just and
honest sphere of the other. The co-operation
and organization of labor dates from early his-
tory, and such organizations have been recom-
mended by the past years of experience. The
trades unions have been an unquestioned benefit
to workingmen in the past. At no time have
their uses and influence been more necessary
than at tlie present day. When labor and capital
approach terms of peace and friendship, the more
useful will be the trade union to each. Contrary
to the impressions of numy, there has been no
more active force in society than trades unions, in
♦Conflicts of Labor anrl Capital.— Geo)-.ffe Howell, p. l/,7.
ARBITRATION. 03
advocating and sustaining the system of peaceful
arbitration between workmen and employers.
The wide spread notion that they are composed
of disturbing and capital-hating demagogues is
simply a popular delusion. The principles and
actions of trades unions, when investigated and
studied, clearly prove this.
In England they have been the warmest ad-
vocates of arbitration. It is an article of the
constitution of almost every labor association in
Great Britain, to advocate in every dispute a
submission to peaceful adjustment; and it is this
influence that has made voluntary arbitration a
settled question and a practical institution in
England.
The President of the Trades Unions' Congress,
which represented in 1877 nearly 700,000 mem-
bers at its session that year, in his address said:
"The principle of appeal to facts and reasons
instead of brute force is rational, and at once
commends itself to the judgment of men. There
is no wonder, therefore, that the principle of
arbitration for settling disputes has grown very
rapidl)'. In the hosiery trade in the midland
counties, we were among the first who adopted it,
and we do not regret having done so. The work-
men have sometimes had adverse decisions; but
on the whole it has worked better than the old
\)4 ARBITRATION.
mode. It is gratifying to find tliat tlie workmen
generally are the first to adopt this intelligent
and enlightened system. In some disputes which
have arisen in the country, notably the West
Lancashire strike, the employers refused to sub-
mit to arbitration, although the men suggested it
on three occasions. My own experience as a
member of one of these boards has led me to this
conclusion: if a board be properl}^ constituted,
and proper arrangements are made to give pub-
licity to the facts of a case, the result generally
will be a righteous award. I was glad to hear
that the National Miners' Union have decided to
offer arbitration in every dispute, and it forms a
part of their rules. It is a rational arrangement,
and it would be a good thing if all would adopt
it. I think, too, arbitration boards should be
open to the press and the public. Workmen
have nothing to fear from either the one or the
other. We want right and justice to rule, and
we are not afraid of publicit}'. When men and
employers gather round a board to talk over
differences and try to adjust them, they give
evidence of their manhood. Beasts and reptiles
fight and tear each other, and carry out the law
of the strongest, but men reason and think, and
by this means show their dignity, and arrive at
nmch better conclusions and far less costly.
ARBITRATION. 95
Boards for settling disputes would not do away
with unions; they would still be needed, and
under increased necessity to enforce the decision
of the board when given in favor of the work-
men."
At the present time it is estimated that in
England there are 800,000* members of trades
unions. Their almost unanimous voice is for
arbitration in industrial pursuits. And it is a
fact in the history of arbitration, that the initia-
tory steps towards this peaceful method was
inauguiated by the trades unions.
In the United States the same sentiment pre-
vails among trades unions in relation to arbitra-
tion. The number of members is much greater
in this country than in England, but no authori-
tative estimate can be given. However, every
labor organization in the United States, with the
remarkable exception of one, openly advocates
and recommends arbitration in preference to
strikes or lock-outs. The exceptional case is the
Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel
Workers, an organization of wide spread influ-
ence and large membership. Their objection,
though, is not to the principle of arbitration, but
rather to its practical application. The Knights
* Trades Unions; Their Origin and Objects, Influence and EfBcacy.— Wm.
Trail t, London, ISSt,.
tin ARHITRATION.
of Labor, tlie most powerful and numerous labor
organization in this country, has for one of its
cardinal principles the expression of confidence
in just arbitration, and always recommends its
ai)})lication in place of a strike. So it can be
safely said that in the trades unions of the United
States tribunals of arbitration will find a friend
and supporter.
The trades unions are a powerful assistant to
honest and thorough arbitration, as well as to
a just examination of the dispute. Their syste-
matic method of collecting and preserving the
statistics of labor makes the information within
their knowledge very important. They are the
natural channels to direct the arguments and
force of the figures of wages before a tribunal
of arbitration. Again, they are invaluable as one
of the influential factors in preventing the re-
pudiation of an award. The experience of the
past iias shown that there has been less repudia-
tion of awards by workingmen than by em-
ployers and capitalists. This is largely due to
the obligations of honor promulgated and sus-
tained by the discipline of the trades unions.
Judge Rupert Kettle, whose experience in arbitra-
tion has l)een referred to, says that he has found
in the trades unions a most valuable adjunct to
popular sentiment in confirming and accepting
ARBITRATION. 97
an award. The same can be said of the trades
unions in this country.
I have dwelt at length upon the relations
of trades unions to arbitration because there is a
wide spread and delusive idea prevalent among
many that they are opposed to it, and their prin-
cipal object is to foment strife and encourage
strikes. Such is not so. And if capital will join
hands with organized labor, the day of strikes
and battles between employer and employed is
gone forever before the peaceful and sensible
reign of arbitration. And in doing this the man
of money will lose none of the legitimate control
of the results of his genius and thrift; and the
man of labor will elevate himself into the domain
of a broader and better humanity.
APPENDIX.
APPENDIX I.
ARBITRATION IN THE ENGLISH TRADES.
The following report on English arbitration
was made by Alsager H. Hill, L. L. B., of London,
to the Massachusetts Bureau of Labor Statistics,
in 1877. It is of interest as showing the condi-
tion of the various trades at that time with
reference to the principle of arbitration and
conciliation.
According to the record of Mr. Crompton, the English
working classes have given the most favorable reception
to the proposal for courts and boards of arbitration and
conciliation. As far back as 1866, Mr. George Odger
introduced the subject of arbitration at a large meeting in
Sheffield, and then expressed the opinion that strikes were
to the social world what wars were to the political world —
they became crimes unless they were prompted by absolute
necessity. Where industries are not localized, but, on the
contrary, scattered over the country, arbitration arrange-
ments necessarily become more difficult. In the more
highly organized of these trades, the question of wages
is not so often raised by arbitration, and in some, very
slight alterations have taken place in a long series of years.
102 ARBITRATION.
The engineers have, as in the case of the nine hours' strike
at Newcastle, in 1871, so ably recorded by Mr. John
Burnett, the Secretary of the Amalgamated Engineers, been
willing to submit questions in dispute to arbitration ; but
the great variety of operatives employed in this industry
makes the system more difficult to adjust satisfactorily.
Mr. John Burnett has, however, expressed his opinion that
" a scheme of arbitration might be arranged so as to apply
to the various peculiarities of the engineering trade."
The brassworkers have made an experiment in arbitra-
tion, but it does not seem to have been successful.
At Sheffield the employers did not seem disposed to
meet the overtures of the men, who, through the carpenters,
desired to form a board.
The bricklayers cannot be reported as having distinctl}"^
pledged themselves to the system of arbitration ; but Mr.
Coulson, the Secretary of the Operative Bricklayers' Society,
has endeavored to establish boards as opportunities have
arisen.
The masons have not as a class shown so strong a
desire for arbitration as the other classes of building
operatives ; and, in the language of Mr. Crompton, " they
have a conservative tenacity which tends to prevent them
from changing some practices which cannot stand the test
of criticism." At Bristol, however, a code of rules has been
drawn up between the Master's Association and that of the
Operative Stone Masons. One rule provides that " six
employers and six operatives act as a standing committee
to hear and determine any minor disputes that may arise
from time to time as to the intention and working of the
rules, and their decision shall be equally binding on both
parties, and no suspensions of labor shall take place
pending the decision of the conciliation committee."
ARBITRATION. 103
Among painters, though there is no permanent board
in the trade, a code of working rules was established at
Manchester in 1870, agreed upon by six operatives and six
employers. According to this code, there must be six
months' notice of any change, which is settled by concilia-
tion if possible ; if not, by reference to some arbitrator. At
Birmingham, Coventry, Leicester, and Nottingham, arbitra-
tion has also taken place in this branch of trade.
In the potteries a board of conciliation and arbitration
has been in existence since 1868 for the china and earthen
ware manufactories. The board is established on the
model of the Nottingham boards. " The President presides
over such meetings of the board as are not convened for the
purpose of arbitration ; but a standing referee presides over
all arbitrations by the board, and his decision is final in the
event of an equal vote." Mr. Crompton points out that the
advantage of this seems to be, that the referee is not called,
or arbitration attempted, until the board has failed to settle
by conciliation ; in which case there is to be one final
arbitration arrived at, if possible, without difference. The
award is made subject to a month's notice on either side.
The settlement of the prices of labor is, however, for a
year.
In the chemical trade of Northumberland and Durham,
a board of arbitration and conciliation was established in
1875 ; but it is of too recent formation for any results to be
reported. This board has a by-law especially directed
against strikes and lock-outs.
In the boot and shoe trade, no board of a formal
character has yet been established ; but a resolution has
been passed at Stafford in support of one in the future. At
Leicester, also, steps have been taken recently to form a
similar board.
104 ARBITRATION.
In the woollen and worsted trades of Yorkshire, there
have been no boards of arbitration or conciliation, nor has
arbitration 'been resorted to as a means of settling disputes.
In the East Lancashire cotton trade, there is no system
of arbitration or conciliation ; but committees composed
of employers and employed are appointed from time to
time for the purpose of settling disputes, and they argue
the question till one side gives in. Mr. Birtwhistle, the
Secretary of the East Lancashire Amalgamated Weavers'
Association, is of the opinion they ultimately will have to
resort to arbitration.
In the printing trade, a court of arbitration was
established in 1853 ; but the court broke up because the
men, while accepting the award as a decision in an actual
dispute, refused to accept it as a decision binding in all
other cases arising out of past contracts, and involving
similar questions.
In the Typographical Trades Union, arbitration has
been suggested, but not yet adopted.
At Manchester, a question in dispute has been settled,
however, in conference between the masters and men in the
printing trade.
Among unskilled laborers, with the exception of the
laborers who are represented on the Birmingham board in
building trade, no settled form of arbitration has yet been
arranged ; and, until this large class is more thoroughly
organized within its own lines by union, such arbitration
will be difficult, if not indeed impossible.
Among agricultural laborers, into whose ranks the
spirit of organization is fast infusing itself, no arbitration
has yet taken place ; but Mr. Howard Evans, editor of The
English Lnborer, Mr. Crompton, and others, have written in
favor of the adoption of the system in future disputes.
APPENDIX II.
SPECIMEN OF AN AMERICAN ARBITRATION
BOARD.
I give below the Constitution and By-Laws
of the Straiton & Storm Board of Arbitration.
It is the first systematic application of the
principle in this country.
ARTICLE I.
Section 1. The firm of Straiton & Storm and their
workmen herewith agree to organize a Board of Arbitration,
to whom shall be submitted all questions of wages and
such other matters as may be in dispute between employer
and employe.
ARTICLE II.
Sec. 1. The workmen of the firm of Straiton & Storm
shall elect at a regular annual meeting Forty delegates, as
hereinafter set forth.
Sec. 2. The Hand-ioorkmen shall elect fifteen delegates,
as follows : Four from the second floor ; Seven from the
third floor ; Four from the factory on Thirty-third street.
10C> ARBITRATION.
Sec. o. The Rollers shall elect eleven delegates, as
follows: Four from the fourth floor; Four from the fifth
floor ; Three from the factory on Thirty-third street.
Sec. 4. The Bunch-makers shall elect seven delegates,
as follows : Three from the fourth floor ; Three from the
fifth floor ; One from the factory on Thirty-third street.
Sec. 5. The Packers shall elect seven delegates, as
follows : Four from the sixth floor ; One from the first
floor ; Two from the factory on Thirty-third street.
Sec. 6. Bunch-m<ikers, to be eligible as delegates, must
be twenty-one years of age.
Sec. 7. The annual election of delegates shall take
place on the last Monday in June. Nominations are to be
made one week before election.
Sec. 8. Should the number of delegates at any time
be less than ten, they shall elect by ballot and for the
unexpired term the whole number of delegates, as provided
for in Section 1, Article TI.
Sec. 9. Only such employes, who have been in the
employ of the firm six months previous to each election,
shall be eligible as delegates.
Sec. 10. Only such employes, who have been in the
emplo}' of the firm four weeks previous to the annual
election, shall have the right to vote for delegates.
ARTICLE III.
Sec. 1. One week after the annual election, the
delegates thereat, chosen by the different branches of
employes, shall meet se))arately, organize, and elect from
their rcsijective delegates their representatives in the Board
of Arljitration.
ARBITRATION. 107
Sec. 2. The Board of Arbitration shall consist of
fourteen members, as follows :
Three Hand-workmen 3
Two Rollers 2
One Bunch-maker 1
One Packer 1
Two Members of the Firm 2
Five Foremen 5
Sec. 3. Immediately after the election of the repre-
sentatives of the workmen to the Board of Arbitration, the
same shall meet and organize by the election, through
ballot, of a President and Secretary.
Sec 4. At all the meetings of the Board of Arbitra-
tion, the firm of Straiton & Storm and its representatives
shall constitute part of the said Board, as specified and set
forth in Section 2, Article III.
Sec. 5. Should vacancies occur in the Board of
Arbitration, the delegates of the respective branches im-
mediately shall proceed to fill such vacancies as specified
and set forth in Section 1, Article III.
ARTICLE IV.
Sec. 1. The Board of Arbitration shall liear such
evidence as may appear to be necessary to a j)roper
understanding of the questions before the Board.
Sec. 2. All questions shall be decided by an open
vote. At any final vote, the names of the members of the
Board shall be called in alphabetical order, and the vote is
to be given in "Aye " or " Nay."
Sec 3. The decisions of a majority of the Board
of Arbitration shall be binding on all the parties concerned.
108 ARBITRATION.
Sec. 4. All decisions affecting the interests of either
employers or employes must be htul in the presence of a
full Board.
Sec. 5. Whenever, at any meeting, a final vote is to be
taken on any main question, all the delegates of the
different branches shall be present at such meeting.
Sec. 6. If a member of the Board is absent at any
meeting whereat a final vote on any main (juestion is to be
taken, the place of the absent member shall immediately
be filled by the resjjective delegation.
Sec. 7. Whenever any question, on which a final vote
is to be taken, is properly before the board, meetings shall
be held daily until the said matter has been decided upon.
ARTICLE V.
Sec. 1. At a tie vote on any main question, and after
five ballots, each member of the Board, with the exception
of the President, shall name one person, who there and
then shall join the Board for the purpose of electing an
arbitrator.
Sec. 2. The workmen shall confine the selection of
said persons to the delegates of their respective branches.
Sec. 3. The firm shall confine the selection of said
persons to persons connected with the firm, either as
employers or employes.
Sec. 4. The arbitrator shall be selected by a majority
of the whole twenty-seven votes cast.
Sec. 5. Pending the election of the arl)itrator, motions
for recess or adjournment are not in order.
Sec. G. After the election of the arl>itrutor, the
functions of tlic tliirteen ])ersons chosen as temporary
members of the lioard, as speeiCicd ;iiid set fortli in the
ARBITRATION. lUU
first, second, and third Sections, Article V., shall cease with
the final transactions of the businsss then before the Board.
AKTICLE VI.
Sec. 1. If the firm of Straiton & Storm, at any time,
should arrive at the conclusion that the Board of Arbitra-
tion no longer answers its purposes — namely, the fair and
equitable adjustment of all differences between their em-
ployes and themselves — then the firm shall give written
notice to the President and Secretary of the said Board
of Arbitration, as it is then constituted, of their unwilling-
ness to be bound by the decisions of the said Board. Three
months after such notification the functions of the Board
of Arbitration shall cease to be binding on either part3%
and the said Board shall be abolished.
Sec. 2. If the employes of Straiton & Storm, who are
governed by the decisions of the Board of Arbitration, at
any time, should arrive at the conclusion that the said
Board no longer answers its pur}»oses as specified in Section
1, Article VI., and a petition be presented to the firm with
the signatures of one-third of such employes thereto at-
tached, demanding the abolition of the said Board of
Arbitration, then the employes governed by said Board
shall vote upon the question ; if it should appear that
two-thirds of their number favor the abolition of the said
Board of Arbitration, it shall, at the expiration of three
months, cease to exist, and all things pertaining thereto
shall be null and void.
110 ARBITRATION.
BV=LAWS
ARTICLE I.
Section 1. It shall be the duty of the President to
preside at all meetings, preserve order, and decide all points
of parliamentary law.
Sec. 2. Whenever requested by a majority of the men
interested, the Secretary shall notify each member of the
Board of Arbitration of the time and place of a meeting
of said Board to be held within three days of the date of
such request.
Sec 3. The meetings shall be called to order within
fifteen minutes of the appointed time.
Sec 4. Seven members shall constitute a quorum for
the transaction of all business, except the casting of a final
vote on any main question.
ARTICLE II.
Sec 1. One of every ffty employes shall have the
privilege to appear before the Board of Arbitration to
represent their case, but such representation shall never be
less than three.
Sec 2. Such representatives may present their views
in writing or otherwise.
Sec 3. If verbal, they shall confine their remarks to
the subject then before the Board, and they shall not
occupy more than fifteen minutes.
ARBITRATION. Ill
Sec. 4. In no case shall these representatives enter
into any other discussion than a plain statement of their
case. The representatives shall be bound to answer all
such questions as the members of the Board may lay before
them.
Sec. 5. Such representatives shall not be members
of the Board of Arbitration or of the delegations con-
stituting the same.
Approved at a meeting of the Board of Arbitration.
May 31, 1884.
APPENDIX III
A BUNDLE OF LETTERS ON THE SUBJECT.
The following letters contain expressions on
arbitration in trade disputes, and were addressed
to the writer in the winter of 1884. Some of
them are from leading officers in prominent labor
organizations, and others are expressive of the
experience and observation of that system.
A. Strasser, President of the Cigar Makers'
International Union of America, Avrites from
New York City as follows:
1. Tlie intelligent members of our organization favor
arbitration without an exception, because it is a means
of ))reventing hasty and impulsive strikes.
2. Arbitration is always preferable to a strike or
lock-out ; but it depends on the consent of both parties.
In Cincinnati, where our members are locked out, since
March 8, 1884, the manufacturers have refused to arbitrate,
even declined to come to a conference.
ARBITRATION. 113
3. We have no regular system of arbitration in force,
hut the majority of the unions practice the same on all
occasions.
4. The best method of jiaving the way for arbitration
is the legislation of trades unions by State and nation,
which will strengthen the labor organizations.
Yours very respectfully,
A. STRASSER, President.
The Grand International Brotherhood of Loco-
motive Engineers, through one of its chief
officers, replied:
* * * Your letter asking for my opinion concerning
the settling of disputes between capital and labor by
arbitration is received, and in reply will say that I regard it
as the best and most just method of adjusting all differ-
ences that arise between employers and employes. As to
our organization, we favor it, and are ready at all times to
submit our differences, that we cannot settle, to a board
of arbitration ; and I believe the intelligent workmen
of the country are a unit in favor of arbitration in
l)reference to strikes. Yours truly,
P. M. ARTHUR, G. C. E.
Robert Howard, Secretary of the Spinners'
Union of Fall River, Mass., and one of the
Loirislative Committee of the Federation of
Organized Trades and Labor Unions of the
United States and Canada, writes:
114 ARBITRATION.
* * * I am entirely opposed to comjiulsory
arbitration by our courts. I think such a course woulil act
detrimentally to the interest of labor. The courts are too
corrupt, and would invariably decide in favor of capital. I
find it so in this vicinity. * * * Arbitration I ai)prove
of when voluntary between employers and employes. I
firmly believe that if such boards were formed for the
purpose of conciliation and arbitration in the event of
disputes, 90 per cent, of them would be settled by concilia-
tion, rendering arbitration unnecessary.
I am very much in favor of voluntary boards of
arbitration. Respectfully,
ROBERT HOWARD,
Sec. Spinners^ Union.
The practical operations of the " Wallace Act"
of Pennsylvania is given in the two following
letters. One is from an operator and capitalist
who served on the Coal Trade Tribunal of Arbi-
tration in the Fifth District of Pennsylvania; the
other is from John Flannery, a representative
of a labor organization, and also a member of the
same tribunal.
William A. Mcintosh, the operator member,
writes :
The Coal Trade Tribunal of the Fifth Judicial District
of Pennsylvania was licensed under the Wallace Act, on
the 19th of May, 1883, and consisted of five representatives
(jf miners, five representatives of operators, and an umpire
ARBITRATION. 115
previously chosen by the other members of the Tribunal,
and being, as required by the act, their unanimous choice.
The creation of this Tribunal was during a strike, the
operators offering three cents per bushel for mining, and
the miners demanding three and a half cents.
After several lengthy discussions it became apparent
that an agreement could not be arrived at without con-
siderable delay ; and, as an earnest of good intentions, it
was ordered that the miners resume work immediately, at a
price to be thereafter fixed by the Tribunal, the price to
date back to the time of the resumption of work.
Work was generally resumed without delay. Com-
mittees, consisting of an ecjual number of each side, were
appointed to gather such statistics as might have a bearing
on the question of prices of mining. These committees
reported at a meeting held June 11, the reports being
epitomes of information obtained by the committees, and
showing average cost of production and selling price
of coal during the three years immediately preceding.
Several meetings of the Tribunal were held ; but,
failing to agree upon a price to be paid for mining, it was
decided that the umpire be called in. The question in
dispute was submitted to him ; and, after hearing the
arguments of both sides, he made his award; viz., that the
price to be paid for mining should be three and a quarter
cents per bushel.
This award, while apparently a disappointment to both
sides, was accepted and concurred in during the time it was
intended to cover; viz., until October 1, 1883.
In September following, this Tribunal met for the
purpose of fixing upon the price to be paid for mining from
October 1, 1883, to April 1, 1884, the operators offering three
116 ARBITRATION.
and a quarter cents and the miners demanding three and
three-quarter cents per bushel.
Being unable to agree, the services of the unii)ire were
requested. After hearing the arguments on both sides, the
umpire made his award ; viz., that the price of mining
should be three and a half cents per bushel. This award
did not appear to be satisfactory to all, but was accepted.
In March of 1884, several meetings of the Tribunal
were held to fix upon the price to be paid for mining from
April 1, 1884, till October 1, 1884, resulting in the adoption
of the rate of three cents per bushel, without the aid of the
umpire. To many miners this action was unsatisfactory,
although the price was generally accepted ; and when the
new Tribunal was created, not one of the miners' representa-
tives on the^ first Tribunal was selected to serve on the
second.
This ended the work of the first Tribunal ; and, while
there were many hard word tilts between miner and
operator, I believe all were actuated with a sincere desire to
do equal justice, and that which would result in the mutual
good of all concerned. While the awards of the Tribunal
were not entirely satisfactory to both sides, as indeed it is
hardly to be expected that they always will be, I believe the
interests of both miners and operators were promoted, as
strikes and lock-outs were avoided, and this is, frequently,
of more importance than the matter of a small difference in
price of mining.
In conse(iuence of unavoidable delays, the present
Tribunal was not licensed until October 4, 1884, four of the
operators' representatives on the first Tribunal being chosen
on the second, but none of the former representatives of the
ARBITRATION. 117
The present Tribunal has decided that the price of
mining in effect prior to October 1, 1884, shall continue
indefinitely, and that the Tribunal shall meet for the pur-
pose of considering the question of price of mining when-
ever three or more members signify that to be their wish.
Having- been connected with all efforts here to settle
differences between employers and employes in the coal
trade, by arbitration, I would call your attention to one
very valuable provision of the Wallace Act, one which I
regard as essential to success ; viz., the provision that the
umpire shall be chosen before any other steps are taken,
except the choosing of the members of the tribunal proper.
In all previous attempts at arbitration in the coal
trade, the plan has been to choose the representatives of the
two sides, who, if they could not agree regarding the point
at issue, were to choose the umpire to decide.
The result in every case has been that the arbitrators
failed to agree, and such a spirit of distrust was engendered
that they would not agree upon an umpire ; hence failure.
In order to insure success it is also necessary that all
arbitrators should be fully empowered to do what they may
deem best for all concerned without the fear of the dis-
pleasure of those they represent, in case the conclusions
arrived at should not be in full harmony with the ideas
of their constituents.
I have an abiding faith that arbitration will grow to be
the popular method of settling disputes between capital
and labor; and that while each unsuccessful attempt may
render the next attempt more diflicult, it will also serve
to bring to light the obstacles in the way, which being
discerned will be the more readily overcome.
Yours truly,
WM. A. McINTOSH.
118 ARBITRATION.
John Flanneiy, Secretary of the Miners'
Union, under date of December 22, 1884, says:
In reply to yours of the ISth inst., on arbitration, its
work, etc., I can say that it has operated here in accordance
witli the act of 1883 known as the "Voluntary Trade
Tribunal Act," and has done more good during the last
twenty months for the railroad miners and operators than it
gets credit for doing. There has been no strikes, where
there used to be every summer, lasting from two to five
months. There has been no "exiles" made by being
"victimized" for taking active parts in strikes to keej)
wages up. The trade, though dull this year, has sutrored
none through uncertainty, and contracts have been kept
that properly belong to this district.
If justice were done to arbitration, which only can l)e
where there is strong and systematic organization on both
sides, it would soon become a subject for national legisla-
tion. I would favor a system that would make awards be
enforced, instead of voluntary, but I have the name of an
extremist in my advocacy of that system.
The one great drawback is that any one-horse employer
may break the price awarded, and peaceable and fair
employers must follow suit, or suffer to be underbid in the
market and lose contracts, to the gain of the adventurer
and foe of peace and honesty in labor matters.
Too much cannot be said favorable to this grand system
when put into pro})er shape. If one could spare time to
give you the figures to show the thousands sacrificed by
capital to subjugate labor, and the fabulous amount lost by
ARBITRATION. 119
labor to outfight capital, not to speak of the suffering
of innocent souls by hunger and cold, it would surprise
you, just for this district alone. Then, what is gained?
There is no principle established to benefit trade or
humanity ; and the justice of the result established by a
strike is always questionable, because it is might against
right, with merit and justness left out of the controversy.
The great object is to enforce the awards, which cannot
be done without a strong and well disciplined organization
among workmen, and the same of employers, who go in to
do right and to sit down summarily on wrong doing. An
efficient agency established by national or State law, is the
great requisite of the day to aid in this work, to raise
humanity out of the slough of strikes. * * * *
Yours truly,
JOHN FLANNERY.
APPENDIX IV.
THE OHIO ARBITRATION ACT.
The Constitution of Ohio confers power upon
the Legishiture to establish courts of arbitration
and conciliation, but they must be voluntary
tribunals. Section 19, Article IV., says:
The General Assembly may establish courts of con-
ciliation, and prescribe their powers and duties ; but such
courts shall not render final judgment in any case, excei)t
upon submission, by the parties, of the matter in dispute,
and their agreement to abide such judgment.
The following is now the law in Ohio on this
subject:
AN ACT
To antliorize the creation and to provide for the operation of
tribunals of vohintary arbitration to adjust in(histrial (hspntes
between employers and employed.
Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the
State of Ohio, That the Court of Common Pleas of each
county or a .Judge thereof in vacation, sliall liavc th(> {)ower,
and upon the presentation of the petition, or of the agree-
ARBITRATION. 121
ment horeinafter named, it shall be the duty of said court,
or a Judge thereof in vacation, to issue in the form herein-
after named, a license or authority for the establishment
within and for each county of tribunals for voluntary
arbitration and settlement of trade disputes between
employers and employed in the manufacturing, mechanical,
or mining industries.
Sec. 2. The said petition or agreement shall be sub-
stantially in the form hereinafter given, and the petition
shall be signed by at least forty persons employed as
workmen and by four or more separate firms, individuals,
or corporations within the county, or by at least four
employers, each of whom shall employ at least ten work-
men, or by the representative of a firm, corporation, or
individual employing not less than forty men in their trade
or industry, provided, that at the time the petition is
presented, the Judge Ijefore whom said petition is presented,
may, upon motion, require testimony to be taken as to the
representative character of said petitioners, and if it
appears that the said petitioners do not represent the will
of a majority, or at least one-half of each party to the
dispute, the license for the establishment of the said
tribunal may be denied, or may make such other order in
this behalf, as to him shall seem fair to both sides.
Sec. 3. If the said petition shall be signed by the
requisite number of both employers and workmen, and be
in proper form and contain the names of the persons to
compose the tribunal, being an equal number of employers
and workmen, the Judge shall forthwith cause to be issued
a license substantially in the form hereinafter given, author-
izing the existence of such tribunal and fixing the time and
place of the first meeting thereof, and an entry of the
license so granted shall be made upon the journal <>f tlie
1 22 ARBITRATION.
Court of Common Pleas of tlie county in which the petition
originated.
Sec. 4. Said tribunal shall continue in existence for
one 3'ear from the date of the license creating it, and may
take jurisdiction of any disjnite between employers and
workmen in any mechanical, manufacturing, or mining
industry or business, who shall have petitioned for the
tribunal, or have been represented in the petition therefor,
or may submit their disputes in writing to such tribunal for
decision. Vacancies occurring in the membership of the
tribunal shall be filled by the Judge or court that licensed
said tribunal, from three names presented by the members
of the tribunal remaining of that class in which the
vacancies occur. The removal of any member to an
adjoining count}^ shall not cause a vacancy in either the
tribunal or the post of umpire. Disputes occurring in one
county may be referred to a tribunal already existing in an
adjoining county. The place of umpire in any of said
tribunals and vacancies occurring in such place, shall only
be filled by the mutual choice of the whole of the re]>re-
sentatives, of both employers and workmen constituting
the tribunal, immediately upon the organization of the
same. The umpire shall be called upon to act after dis-
agreement is manifested in the tribunal by failure during
three meetings held and full discussion had. His award
shall be final and conclusive ui)on such matters only as are
submitted to him in writing and signed by the whole of the
members of the tribunal, or Ity parties submitting the
same.
Sec. 5. The said tribunal shall consist of not less than
two employers or their rei)resentatives, and two worknien.
The exact number, which shall in each case constitute the
tribunal, shall be inserted in the petition or agreement, and
ARBITRATION. 1 23
they shall be named in the license issued. The said
tribunal, when convened, shall be organized by the selection
of one of their number as chairman and one as secretary,
who shall be chosen by a majority of the members, or
if such majority cannot be had after two votes, then by
secret ballot, or by lot, as they prefer.
Sec. 6. The members of the tribunal shall receive no
compensation for their services from the city or county, but
the expenses of the tribunal, other than fuel, light, and the
use of the room and furniture, may be paid by voluntary
subscription, which the tribunal is authorized to receive
and expend for such purposes. The sessions of said
tribunal shall be held at the county seat of the county
where the petition for the same was presented, and a room
in the Court House for the use of said tribunal, shall be
provided by the County Commissioners.
Sec. 7. When no umpire is acting, the Chairman
of the tribunal shall have power to administer oaths to all
witnesses who may be produced, and a majority of said
tribunal may provide for the examination and investigation
of books, documents, and accounts pertaining to the
matters in hearing before the tribunal, and belonging to
either party to the dispute ; provided, that the tribunal may
unanimously direct that instead of producing books,
papers, and accounts before the tribunal, an accountant
agreed upon by the entire tribunal, may be appointed to
examine such books, papers, and accounts, and sucli ac-
countant shall be sworn to well and truly examine such
books, documents, and accounts as may be presented to
him, and to report the results of such examination in
writing to said tribunal. Before such examination the
information desired and required by the tribunal shall be
plainly stated in writing and presented to said accountant,
124 ARBITRATION.
which statement shall be signed by the members of said
tribunal, or by a majority of each class thereof. Attorneys
at law or other agents of either ))arty to the dispute, shall
not be permitted to appear or take part in any of the
proceedings of the tribunal, or before the umpire.
Sec. 8. When the uminre is acting he shall preside,
and he shall have all the powers of the Chairman of the
tribunal ; and his determination upon all questions of
evidence, or other questions, in conducting the inquiries
then pending, shall be final. Committees of the tribunal
consisting of an equal number of each class may be
constituted to examine into any question in dispute be-
tween employers and workmen which may have been
referred to said committee by the tribunal, and such com-
mittee may hear and settle the same finally, when it can be
done, by a unanimous vote ; otherwise the same shall be
reported to the full tribunal, and there be heard, as if the
question had not been referred. The said tribunal, in
connection with the umpire, shall have power to make,
ordain, and enforce rules for the government of the body
when in session, to enable the business to be proceeded with
in order, and to fix its sessions and adjournments ; but such
rules shall not conflict with this statute, nor with any
of the provisions of the Constitution and laws of Ohio.
Sec. 9. Before the umpire shall proceed to act, the
question or questions in dispute shall be plainly defined in
writing, and signed by the members of the tribunal, or a
majority thereof of each class, or by the parties submitting
the same ; and such writing shall contain the submission
of the decision thereof to the umpire by name, and shall
provide that his decision thereon, after hearing, shall be
final. The umpire shall be sworn to impartially decide all
questions that may be submitted to him during his term
ARBITRATION.
125
of office. The submission and his award may be made in
the form hereinafter given, and said umpire must make his
award within ten days from the time the ([Uestion or
questions in dispute are submitted to him. Said award
shall be made to the tribunal ; and if the award is for a
specific sum of money, said award ma}' be made a matter
of record by filing a copy thereof in the Court of Common
Pleas of the county wherein the tribunal is in session.
When so entered of record it shall be final and conclusive,
and the proper court may, on motion of any one interested,
enter judgment thereon ; and when the award is for a
specific sum of money, may issue final and other process to
enforce the same.
Sec. 10. 'The form of the joint petition or agreement
pra3ang for a tribunal under this act shall be as follows :
To the Court of Common Pleas of County {or to a
Judge thereof, as the case may be):
The subscribers hereto, being the number and having
the (jualifications required in this proceeding, being desirous
of establishing a tribunal of voluntary arbitration for the
settlement of disputes in the (here name the
branch of industiy) trade, and having agreed upon A, B, C,
D and E, representing the employers, and G, H, I, J and K,
representing the workmen, as members of said tribunal,
who each are qualified to act thereon, pray that a license for
a tribunal in the trade may be issued to said
persons named above.
EMPLOYERS.
RESIDENCE.
Nl^.MBER
E.MYF.OVES.
126
ARBITRATION.
EMPLOYES.
NAMES.
KESIUENCE.
BV WHOM EMPLOYED.
Sec. 11. The license to be issued upon such petition,
may be as follows :
State of Ohio, }
County,
- ss.
Whereas, The joint petition and agreement of four
employers (or representatives of a firm, corporation, or indi-
vidual, employing forty men, as the case may be), and forty
workmen has been presented to this court, (or if to a judge
in vacation, so state), praying the creation of a tribunal
of voluntary arbitration for the settlement of disputes in
the trade within this county, and naming A, B,
C, D, and E, representing the employers, and G, H, I, J,
and K, representing the workmen. Now, in pursuance
of the statute for such case made and provided, said named
persons are hereby licensed and authorized to be and exist
as a tribunal of voluntary arbitration for the settlement
of disputes between employers and workmen for the period
of one year from this date, and they shall meet and organize
on the .... day of , A. D at
Signed, this .... day of , A. D
[ Signature. ] ,
Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas of . . . County.
Sec. 12. When the tribunal agrees to submit a matter
in controversy to the umpire, it may be in form as follows:
We, A, B, C, I), and K, representing employers, and G,
H, I, .J, and K, representing workmen, composing a tri])unal
ARBITRATION. 1 27
of voluntary arbitration, hereby submit and refer unto the
umpirage of L. (the umpire of the tribunal of the trade,)
the following subject-matter, namely : [Here state fully and
clearly the mutter submitted.] And we hereby agree that his
decision and determination upon the same shall be binding
upon us, and final and conclusive upon the question thus
submitted ; and we pledge ourselves to abide by and carry
out the decision of the umpire when made.
Witness our names this .... day of , A. D
[ Signatures. ]
Sec. 13. The umpire shall make his award in writing
to the tribunal, stating distinctly his decisions on the
subject-matter submitted. And when the award is for a
specific sum of money, the umpire shall forward a copy
of the same to the clerk of the proper court.
Sec. 14. This act shall be in force from and after its
passage.
^
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